A method for mapping an object to a location in virtual space

ABSTRACT

A method of mapping an object to a location in a virtual space includes acquiring objects which are to be mapped to respective locations in a virtual space and assigning each respective location in the virtual space a prominence value representing the prominence of an object at the location when the virtual space is viewed by a user. The prominence value is assigned according to a distance of each location from a reference location in the virtual space and at least one physiological characteristic of a user. The method also includes mapping each object to a respective location in the virtual space according to a priority level associated with at least some of the objects and the prominence value assigned to each respective location in the virtual space.

BACKGROUND Field of the Disclosure

The present disclosure relates to a method for mapping an object to alocation in a virtual space.

Description of the Related Art

The “background” description provided herein is for the purpose ofgenerally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of thepresently named inventors, to the extent it is described in thebackground section, as well as aspects of the description which may nototherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neitherexpressly or impliedly admitted as prior art against the presentdisclosure.

A large volume of digital content is becoming available to be accessedby individuals. As the volume of digital content available to anindividual increases, a problem becomes how to efficiently navigatethrough and access the desired digital content. For example, onetechnique which has been developed which enables a user to navigatethrough television content is an Electronic Program Guide (EPG).Typically, available television content is displayed in an EPG in a gridformat. However, a problem with grid based EPGs is that the amount ofinformation which can be displayed about a given item of digital contentbecomes very restricted. Furthermore, with increasing access to internetchannels, the number of items of digital content which must be displayedin the EPG becomes very large indeed. Navigation through the EPG inorder that the desired content may be accessed therefore becomesincreasingly slow and cumbersome.

The issue regarding the access and navigation through a large volume ofdigital content is further exacerbated when a user attempts to navigatedigital content in a virtual reality or augmented reality environment.Traditional methods developed for the navigation of digital content,such as the EPG, translate very poorly to the virtual environment. Forexample, grid based EPGs can appear cluttered owing to the limitedvirtual space available which can be used to display the EPG and theuser can easily become frustrated when seeking to navigate through thedigital content. Furthermore, the precise level of control required tonavigate through large volumes of digital content in this manner can bedifficult to achieve.

It is an aim of the present disclosure to address these issues.

SUMMARY

According to embodiments of the disclosure, a method of mapping anobject to a location in a virtual space, the method comprising acquiringa plurality of objects which are to be mapped to respective locations ina virtual space, assigning each respective location in the virtual spacea prominence value representing the prominence of an object at thelocation when the virtual space is viewed by a user, the prominencevalue being assigned according to a distance of each location from areference location in the virtual space and at least one physiologicalcharacteristic of a user, and mapping each object to a respectivelocation in the virtual space according to a priority level associatedwith at least some of the objects and the prominence value assigned toeach respective location in the virtual space.

According to embodiments of the disclosure, an apparatus for mapping anobject to a location in a virtual space is provided, the apparatuscomprising circuitry configured to acquire a plurality of objects whichare to be mapped to respective locations in a virtual space, assign eachrespective location in the virtual space a prominence value representingthe prominence of an object at the location when the virtual space isviewed by a user, the prominence value being assigned according to adistance of each location from a reference location in the virtual spaceand at least one physiological characteristic of a user, and map eachobject to a respective location in the virtual space according to apriority level associated with at least some of the objects and theprominence value assigned to each respective location in the virtualspace.

According to embodiments of the disclosure, a computer program productcomprising instructions which, when the program is executed by acomputer, cause the computer to carry out a method of mapping an objectto a location in a virtual space is provided, the method comprisingacquiring a plurality of objects which are to be mapped to respectivelocations in a virtual space, assigning each respective location in thevirtual space a prominence value representing the prominence of anobject at the location when the virtual space is viewed by a user, theprominence value being assigned according to a distance of each locationfrom a reference location in the virtual space and at least onephysiological characteristic of a user, and mapping each object to arespective location in the virtual space according to a priority levelassociated with at least some of the objects and the prominence valueassigned to each respective location in the virtual space.

A method of modifying a property of an object located in a virtual spaceis provided, the method comprising mapping an object to a predeterminedlocation in a virtual space, assigning each respective location in thevirtual space a prominence value representing the prominence of anobject at the location when the virtual space is viewed by a user, theprominence value being assigned according to a distance from eachlocation to a reference location in the virtual space and at least onephysiological characteristic of a user, and modifying at least oneproperty of the object located in the virtual space in accordance withthe prominence value assigned to the location of the object in thevirtual space.

According to embodiments of the disclosure, an apparatus for modifying aproperty of an object located in a virtual space is provided, theapparatus comprising circuitry configured to map an object to apredetermined location in a virtual space, assign each respectivelocation in the virtual space a prominence value representing theprominence of an object at the location when the virtual space is viewedby a user, the prominence value being assigned according to a distancefrom each location to a reference location in the virtual space and atleast one physiological characteristic of a user, and modify at leastone property of the object located in the virtual space in accordancewith the prominence value assigned to the location of the object in thevirtual space.

According to embodiments of the disclosure, a computer program productcomprising instructions which, when the program is executed by acomputer, cause the computer to carry out a method of modifying aproperty of an object located in a virtual space is provided, the methodcomprising mapping an object to a predetermined location in a virtualspace, assigning each respective location in the virtual space aprominence value representing the prominence of an object at thelocation when the virtual space is viewed by a user, the prominencevalue being assigned according to a distance from each location to areference location in the virtual space and at least one physiologicalcharacteristic of a user, and modifying at least one property of theobject located in the virtual space in accordance with the prominencevalue assigned to the location of the object in the virtual space.

The embodiments of the disclosure enable pertinent information from alarge volume of digital content to be provided to a user, and improvethe access and navigation through the large volumes of digital content,particularly on a screen of limited size or in a virtual environment oflimited available space, or in an environment where the available spaceis small in comparison to the volume of digital content which must beprovided to the user. The foregoing paragraphs have been provided by wayof general introduction, and are not intended to limit the scope of thefollowing claims. The described embodiments, together with furtheradvantages, will be best understood by reference to the followingdetailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings.

The foregoing paragraphs have been provided by way of generalintroduction, and are not intended to limit the scope of the followingclaims. The described embodiments, together with further advantages,will be best understood by reference to the following detaileddescription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete appreciation of the disclosure and many of the attendantadvantages thereof will be readily obtained as the same becomes betterunderstood by reference to the following detailed description whenconsidered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates an HMD worn by a user;

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of an HMD;

FIG. 3 schematically illustrates the formation of a virtual image by anHMD;

FIG. 4 schematically illustrates another type of display for use in anHMD;

FIG. 5 schematically illustrates a pair of stereoscopic images;

FIG. 6 schematically illustrates a change of view of user of an HMD;

FIGS. 7a and 7b schematically illustrate HMDs with motion sensing;

FIGS. 8 and 9 schematically illustrate a user wearing an HMD connectedto a Sony® PlayStation 3® games console;

FIG. 10 is an example of a known EPG;

FIG. 11 is an example of mapping an object to a location in a virtualspace according to the embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 12A illustrates a flow chart of a method of mapping an object to alocation in a virtual space according to an embodiment of thedisclosure;

FIG. 12B shows a block diagram of a device 1200 for mapping an object toa location in a virtual space according to embodiments of thedisclosure.

FIG. 13 depicts the distribution of prominence values in atwo-dimensional space according to embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 14 depicts a situation where prominence values are assigned to atwo-dimensional plane within a three-dimensional space according toembodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 15 depicts a physiological characteristic according to embodimentsof the disclosure;

FIG. 16 demonstrates an exemplary prominence distribution in a virtualspace according to embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 17 depicts a physiological characteristic according to embodimentsof the disclosure;

FIG. 18 demonstrates a method of a mapping each object to a locationwithin the virtual space according to embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 19 illustrates a flow chart of a method of mapping an object to alocation in a virtual space according to an embodiment of thedisclosure;

FIG. 20 illustrates a flow chart of a method of mapping an object to alocation in a virtual space according to an embodiment of thedisclosure;

FIG. 21 depicts an example of generating a second virtual spaceaccording to embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 22A illustrates a flow chart of a method of mapping an object to alocation in a virtual space according to an embodiment of thedisclosure;

FIG. 22B depicts an exemplary configuration of purchase locationsthrough a virtual space in accordance with embodiments of thedisclosure;

FIG. 23 illustrates a flow chart of modifying a property of an objectlocated in a virtual space according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

Embodiments of the present disclosure can provide a display method andapparatus using a display operable to display an image to a viewer. Insome embodiments, the display is a head-mountable display and theposition and/or orientation of the viewer's head is detected bydetecting a position and/or orientation of the head-mountable display.The head mountable display may have a frame to be mounted onto anviewer's head, the frame defining one or two eye display positionswhich, in use, are positioned in front of a respective eye of the viewerand a respective display element is mounted with respect to each of theeye display positions, the display element providing a virtual image ofa video display of a video signal from a video signal source to that eyeof the viewer. In other examples, the display is not a head-mountabledisplay. In some embodiments, the display (whether head mountable ornot) may be referred to as an immersive display, in that in normal useit fills at least a threshold angular range (for example, at least 40°)of the field of view of the user. Examples include multiple projectordisplays, wrap-around (curved) displays and the like.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a user 10 is wearing an HMD 20 on the user'shead 30. The HMD comprises a frame 40, in this example formed of a rearstrap and a top strap, and a display portion 50.

The HMD of FIG. 1 completely obscures the user's view of the surroundingenvironment. All that the user can see is the pair of images displayedwithin the HMD.

The HMD has associated headphone earpieces 60 which fit into the user'sleft and right ears 70. The earpieces 60 replay an audio signal providedfrom an external source, which may be the same as the video signalsource which provides the video signal for display to the user's eyes.

In operation, a video signal is provided for display by the HMD. Thiscould be provided by an external video signal source 80 such as a videogames machine or data processing apparatus (such as a personalcomputer), in which case the signals could be transmitted to the HMD bya wired or a wireless connection. Examples of suitable wirelessconnections include Bluetooth (R), WiFi (R) or LTE (R) connections.Audio signals for the earpieces 60 can be carried by the sameconnection. Similarly, any control signals passed from the HMD to thevideo (audio) signal source may be carried by the same connection.

Accordingly, the arrangement of FIG. 1 provides an example of ahead-mountable display system comprising a frame to be mounted onto anobserver's head, the frame defining one or two eye display positionswhich, in use, are positioned in front of a respective eye of theobserver and a display element mounted with respect to each of the eyedisplay positions, the display element providing a virtual image of avideo display of a video signal from a video signal source to that eyeof the observer.

FIG. 1 shows just one example of an HMD. Other formats are possible: forexample an HMD could use a frame more similar to that associated withconventional eyeglasses, namely a substantially horizontal leg extendingback from the display portion to the top rear of the user's ear,possibly curling down behind the ear. In other examples, the user's viewof the external environment may not in fact be entirely obscured or oneeye may be obscured or the HMD may be arranged such that two eyes mayfocus on the display portion and that one eye may be able to glancearound the display portion into the external environment; the displayedimages could be arranged so as to be superposed (from the user's pointof view) over the external environment. An example of such anarrangement will be described below with reference to FIG. 4.

In the example of FIG. 1, a separate respective display is provided foreach of the user's eyes. A schematic plan view of how this is achievedis provided as FIG. 2, which illustrates the positions 100 of the user'seyes and the relative position 110 of the user's nose. The displayportion 50, in schematic form, comprises an exterior shield 120 to maskambient light from the user's eyes and an internal shield 130 whichprevents one eye from seeing the display intended for the other eye. Thecombination of the user's face, the exterior shield 120 and the interiorshield 130 form two compartments 140, one for each eye. In each of thecompartments there is provided a display element 150 and one or moreoptical elements 160. The way in which the display element and theoptical element(s) cooperate to provide a display to the user will bedescribed with reference to FIG. 3.

Referring to FIG. 3, the display element 150 generates a displayed imagewhich is (in this example) refracted by the optical elements 160 (shownschematically as a convex lens but which could include compound lensesor other elements) so as to generate a virtual image 170 which appearsto the user to be larger than and significantly further away than thereal image generated by the display element 150. As an example, thevirtual image may have an apparent image size (image diagonal) of morethan 1 m and may be disposed at a distance of more than 1 m from theuser's eye (or from the frame of the HMD). In general terms, dependingon the purpose of the HMD, it is desirable to have the virtual imagedisposed a significant distance from the user. For example, if the HMDis for viewing movies or the like, it is desirable that the user's eyesare relaxed during such viewing, which requires a distance (to thevirtual image) of at least several metres. In FIG. 3, solid lines (suchas the line 180) are used to denote real optical rays, whereas brokenlines (such as the line 190) are used to denote virtual rays.

An alternative arrangement is shown in FIG. 4. This arrangement may beused where it is desired that the user's view of the externalenvironment is not entirely obscured. However, it is also applicable toHMDs in which the user's external view is wholly obscured. In thearrangement of FIG. 4, the display element 150 and optical elements 200cooperate to provide an image which is projected onto a mirror 210,which deflects the image towards the user's eye position 220. The userperceives a virtual image to be located at a position 230 which is infront of the user and at a suitable distance from the user.

In the case of an HMD in which the user's view of the externalsurroundings is entirely obscured, the mirror 210 can be a substantially100% reflective mirror. The arrangement of FIG. 4 then has the advantagethat the display element and optical elements can be located closer tothe centre of gravity of the user's head and to the side of the user'seyes, which can produce a less bulky HMD for the user to wear.Alternatively, if the HMD is designed not to completely obscure theuser's view of the external environment, the mirror 210 can be madepartially reflective so that the user sees the external environment,through the mirror 210, with the virtual image superposed over the realexternal environment.

In the case where separate respective displays are provided for each ofthe user's eyes, it is possible to display stereoscopic images. Anexample of a pair of stereoscopic images for display to the left andright eyes is shown in FIG. 5. The images exhibit a lateral displacementrelative to one another, with the displacement of image featuresdepending upon the (real or simulated) lateral separation of the camerasby which the images were captured, the angular convergence of thecameras and the (real or simulated) distance of each image feature fromthe camera position.

Note that the lateral displacements in FIG. 5 could in fact be the otherway round, which is to say that the left eye image as drawn could infact be the right eye image, and the right eye image as drawn could infact be the left eye image. This is because some stereoscopic displaystend to shift objects to the right in the right eye image and to theleft in the left eye image, so as to simulate the idea that the user islooking through a stereoscopic window onto the scene beyond. However,some HMDs use the arrangement shown in FIG. 5 because this gives theimpression to the user that the user is viewing the scene through a pairof binoculars. The choice between these two arrangements is at thediscretion of the system designer.

In some situations, an HMD may be used simply to view movies and thelike. In this case, there is no change required to the apparentviewpoint of the displayed images as the user turns the user's head, forexample from side to side. In other uses, however, such as thoseassociated with virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR) systems,the user's viewpoint need to track movements with respect to a real orvirtual space in which the user is located.

This tracking is carried out by detecting motion of the HMD and varyingthe apparent viewpoint of the displayed images so that the apparentviewpoint tracks the motion.

FIG. 6 schematically illustrates the effect of a user head movement in aVR or AR system.

Referring to FIG. 6, a virtual environment is represented by a (virtual)spherical shell 250 around a user. Because of the need to represent thisarrangement on a two-dimensional paper drawing, the shell is representedby a part of a circle, at a distance from the user equivalent to theseparation of the displayed virtual image from the user. A user isinitially at a first position 260 and is directed towards a portion 270of the virtual environment. It is this portion 270 which is representedin the images displayed on the display elements 150 of the user's HMD.

Consider the situation in which the user then moves his head to a newposition and/or orientation 280. In order to maintain the correct senseof the virtual reality or augmented reality display, the displayedportion of the virtual environment also moves so that, at the end of themovement, a new portion 290 is displayed by the HMD.

So, in this arrangement, the apparent viewpoint within the virtualenvironment moves with the head movement. If the head rotates to theright side, for example, as shown in FIG. 6, the apparent viewpoint alsomoves to the right from the user's point of view. If the situation isconsidered from the aspect of a displayed object, such as a displayedobject 300, this will effectively move in the opposite direction to thehead movement. So, if the head movement is to the right, the apparentviewpoint moves to the right but an object such as the displayed object300 which is stationary in the virtual environment will move towards theleft of the displayed image and eventually will disappear off theleft-hand side of the displayed image, for the simple reason that thedisplayed portion of the virtual environment has moved to the rightwhereas the displayed object 300 has not moved in the virtualenvironment. Similar considerations apply to the up-down component ofany motion.

FIGS. 7a and 7b schematically illustrated HMDs with motion sensing. Thetwo drawings are in a similar format to that shown in FIG. 2. That is tosay, the drawings are schematic plan views of an HMD, in which thedisplay element 150 and optical elements 160 are represented by a simplebox shape. Many features of FIG. 2 are not shown, for clarity of thediagrams. Both drawings show examples of HMDs with a motion detector fordetecting motion of the observer's head.

In FIG. 7a , a forward-facing camera 320 is provided on the front of theHMD. This does not necessarily provide images for display to the user(although it could do so in an augmented reality arrangement). Instead,its primary purpose in the present embodiments is to allow motionsensing. A technique for using images captured by the camera 320 formotion sensing will be described below in connection with FIG. 8. Inthese arrangements, the motion detector comprises a camera mounted so asto move with the frame; and an image comparator operable to comparesuccessive images captured by the camera so as to detect inter-imagemotion.

FIG. 7b makes use of a hardware motion detector 330. This can be mountedanywhere within or on the HMD. Examples of suitable hardware motiondetectors are piezoelectric accelerometers or optical fibre gyroscopes.It will of course be appreciated that both hardware motion detection andcamera-based motion detection can be used in the same device, in whichcase one sensing arrangement could be used as a backup when the otherone is unavailable, or one sensing arrangement (such as the camera)could provide data for changing the apparent viewpoint of the displayedimages, whereas the other (such as an accelerometer) could provide datafor image stabilisation.

FIG. 8 schematically illustrates a user wearing an HMD connected to aSony® PlayStation 3® games console 2000 as an example of a base device(corresponding to the external video source 80 of FIG. 1), a furtherexample of a base device is a PlayStation 4® games console. The gamesconsole 2000 is connected to a mains power supply 2010 and (optionally)to a main display screen (not shown). A cable, acting as the cables 82,84 discussed above (and so acting as both power supply and signalcables), links the HMD 20 to the games console 2000 and is, for example,plugged into a USB socket 2020 on the console 2000. Note that in thepresent embodiments, a single physical cable is provided which fulfilsthe functions of the cables 82, 84. In FIG. 8, the user is also shownholding a hand-held controller 2030 which may be, for example, a Sony®Move® controller which communicates wirelessly with the games console2000 to control (or to contribute to the control of) game operationsrelating to a currently executed game program.

The video displays in the HMD 20 are arranged to display imagesgenerated by the games console 2000, and the earpieces 60 in the HMD 20are arranged to reproduce audio signals generated by the games console2000. Note that if a USB type cable is used, these signals will be indigital form when they reach the HMD 20, such that the HMD 20 comprisesa digital to analogue converter (DAC) to convert at least the audiosignals back into an analogue form for reproduction.

Images from the camera 2050 mounted on the HMD 20 are passed back to thegames console 2000 via the cable 82, 84. Similarly, if motion or othersensors are provided at the HMD 20, signals from those sensors may be atleast partially processed at the HMD 20 and/or may be at least partiallyprocessed at the games console 2000.

The USB connection from the games console 2000 also provides power tothe HMD 20, according to the USB standard.

FIG. 9 schematically illustrates a similar arrangement in which thegames console is connected (by a wired or wireless link) to a so-called“break out box” acting as a base or intermediate device 2040, to whichthe HMD 20 is connected by a cabled link 82, 84. The breakout box hasvarious functions in this regard. One function is to provide a location,near to the user, for some user controls relating to the operation ofthe HMD, such as (for example) one or more of a power control, abrightness control, an input source selector, a volume control and thelike. Another function is to provide a local power supply for the HMD(if one is needed according to the embodiment being discussed). Anotherfunction is to provide a local cable anchoring point. In this lastfunction, it is not envisaged that the break-out box 2040 is fixed tothe ground or to a piece of furniture, but rather than having a verylong trailing cable from the games console 2000, the break-out boxprovides a locally weighted point so that the cable 82, 84 linking theHMD 20 to the break-out box will tend to move around the position of thebreak-out box. This can improve user safety and comfort by avoiding theuse of very long trailing cables.

It will be appreciated that the localisation of processing in thevarious techniques described in this application can be varied withoutchanging the overall effect, given that an HMD may form part of a set orcohort of interconnected devices (that is to say, interconnected for thepurposes of data or signal transfer, but not necessarily connected by aphysical cable). So, processing which is described as taking place “at”one device, such as at the HMD, could be devolved to another device suchas the games console (base device) or the break-out box. Processingtasks can be shared amongst devices. Source signals, on which theprocessing is to take place, could be distributed to another device, orthe processing results from the processing of those source signals couldbe sent to another device, as required. So any references to processingtaking place at a particular device should be understood in thiscontext. Similarly, where an interaction between two devices isbasically symmetrical, for example where a camera or sensor on onedevice detects a signal or feature of the other device, it will beunderstood that unless the context prohibits this, the two devices couldbe interchanged without any loss of functionality.

Mapping Objects to a Location in a Virtual Space in Accordance with aLevel of Priority:

A method of mapping an object to a location in a virtual space accordingto the present embodiment may be applied to the navigation by a userthrough a large number of digital objects, such as television channels,displayed in a virtual environment. In this example, a Logical ChannelNumber (LCN) is associated with at least some of the televisionchannels. The LCN indicates an ordering of the channels in a known gridbased Electronic Program Guide (EPG).

An example of a known grid based EPG is illustrated in FIG. 10.Television channels with a lower LCN appear closer to the beginning ofthe channel list, and are therefore displayed at the top 1000 of a gridbased EPG. In contrast, television channels with a higher LCN appearfurther away from the top of the channel list (further away from number1). As such, in a grid based EPG, a channel with a high LCN would belocated near the bottom 1002 of the EPG. As the number of channelsincreases, it becomes difficult for the user to navigate to a desiredchannel in the grid based EPG. That is, as the number of channelsincreases, the volume of digital content which must be displayed alsoincreases, including information relating to the channels (such as thecurrently playing program or the like). For the limited and fixed screenspace which is available for display, the increase in the volume ofdigital content becomes particularly problematic. In a known grid basedEPG such as that illustrated in FIG. 10, pertinent information cannot beprovided to the user, and the user will become increasingly frustratedwith attempts to navigate through the large volume of digital content onthe limited space which is available. LCNs are normally provided as partof broadcast service information for at least some channels (services,according to the DVB definition) and television circuitry uses the LCNsto define a channel skipping order and order of the EPG as described.Typically a user of the television receiver can remap services tochannel numbers which are stored in memory of the TV receiver to changethe order of services which has been determined by LCN.

An example of mapping an object to a location in a virtual spaceaccording to the present embodiment is illustrated in FIG. 11. In thisexample, the virtual space is displayed on a HMD such as that describedwith reference to FIG. 1. In this example, the television channels arenot displayed in a grid based EPG, but instead are mapped to locationsthrough the virtual space around the user in accordance with a priorityvalue associated with each television channel and a prominence valueassigned to each location in the virtual space. That is, the user 1100wearing the HMD will see the television channels positioned atrespective locations (1104, 1108, 1110, 1112, 1114, 1116) throughout thevirtual space. In this example, priority, or desired ordering, of thetelevision channels in the virtual space is determined in accordancewith the LCN associated with each television channel. However, thiscould be set in accordance with the personal preference of the user,such that their favourite television channel has the highest prioritylevel. It may also be that only a certain number of the televisionchannels have an associated priority level. In this case, those channelswith an associated priority level will be positioned at the respectivelocations with the highest prominence values first, whereas thetelevision channels without an associated priority level could then bepositioned in the remaining respective locations in any given order. Asillustrated in this example, the television channel is not restrictedonly to text describing the currently playing program, or futureprograms, but also includes a box 1118 which displays a preview of thecurrently playing program.

In this example, the prominence value represents the prominence of atelevision object at a given location in the virtual space to the user1100, and is assigned in accordance with a distance of each locationfrom a reference location in the virtual space and a physiologicalcharacteristic of the user 1100. In this example, the reference locationis the location 1102 directly in front of the user 1100 in the virtualspace when they are in a neutral position, and as such, represents themost prominent location in the virtual space. The television channelwith the lowest LCN is thus mapped to this reference location.

It is easier for a user to rotate their head left and right when wearingthe HMD than it is for them to look up and down. The comfortable rangeof motion can be calibrated for each user, and this is described infurther detail below. Because of this restricted range of motion, theprominence of a television channel at a given distance from the centrallocation in front of the user in a horizontal direction will be higherthan a television channel at the same distance from the central locationin a virtual direction. Therefore, in this example, the televisionchannels with LCN 2 and LCN 3 are mapped to locations 1110 and 1112respectively, while television channels with LCN 4 and 5 are mapped tolocation 1114 and 1116 respectively in the virtual space. In embodimentsit is acknowledged, that comfortable range of motion is further to theleft and the right than up and down and comfortable further up than itis down. At such a location to the top right or left may be moreprominent than a location to the bottom right or left for the samedisplacement from a central location. The comfortable range of motionmay correspond approximately to a concave hexagon, the concave portionrepresenting the comfort of looking downwards more easily to the leftand right than it is straight down in line with one's chin. For someusers it may be that it is relatively less easy to turn one's neck tothe left than to the right (or vice versa). Locations may be arrangedcorrespondingly.

The location 1106 located directly behind the user in this example isthe location at which an object at that location will have the lowestprominence to a user. As such, in this example, the television channel1108 with the highest LCN is mapped to this location in the virtualspace.

While only a small number of television channels are described in thisexample, it will be appreciated that this method of mapping televisionchannels to respective locations in the virtual space can be applied toany number of television channels.

By mapping each object to the respective location in the virtual spaceaccording to the priority level associated with at least some of theobjects and the prominence value assigned to the virtual space, itbecomes possible to easily navigate a large number of objects since theobjects which are of higher priority (or increased interest) are mappedto locations within the virtual space having increased prominence. Inembodiments, the priority may be determined by the user. In embodimentspriority may be determined computationally by a processor.

For example, when the priority of objects is set in accordance with userpreference, the user 1100 will find that their favourite televisionchannel is located at the most prominent location 1102 in the virtualspace, and can readily be accessed. Television channels which the user1000 has a lower preference towards can still be navigated to withreduced complexity when compared to the grid based EPG, but do not takeprecedent over the user's favourite television channels.

In this example using the HMD, by moving their head, the user is able tolook around the virtual space. It will be appreciated that it may bethat only a portion of the virtual space be visible to the user at anygiven time, with that portion of the virtual space corresponding to thecurrent view point of the user in the virtual space. Furthermore,according to this example, as the user moves their head around thevirtual space, they are able to select a television channel out of theplurality of television channels displayed in the virtual space. In thisexample using the HMD, the user can select a television channel out ofthe plurality of televisions channels in the virtual space by providingan additional input gesture or command when looking at the object theywish to select.

Furthermore, in this example, when the user selects a televisionchannel, that channel moves towards the central location 1102, and mediacontent associated with that television channel, such as the currentlybroadcast television program, starts to play, such that the user canenjoy watching their chosen television channel in the virtual space.However, in other examples, when the user selects a television channel,of a given genre, other channels having that genre (or programs, eventsaccording to DVB definitions, predominantly of that genre) could then bedisplayed in the regions of the virtual space having the highestprominence. Navigation through the virtual space, and thus the digitalobject, by the user is improved. That is, in contrast to known gridbased EPGs or the like, by mapping the digital objects to a location inthe limited size virtual space or display screen as according to thepresent embodiment, the most pertinent information from a large volumeof digital content can be provided to a user, while improving access andnavigation through the large volume of digital content.

FIG. 12A illustrates a flow chart of a method of mapping an object to alocation in a virtual space according to the present embodiment of thedisclosure. The method starts at step S1200 and proceeds to step S1202.In step S1202, the method comprises acquiring a plurality of objectswhich are to be mapped to respective locations in a virtual space. Instep S1204, the method comprises assigning each respective location inthe virtual space a prominence value representing the prominence of anobject at the location when the virtual space is viewed by a user, theprominence value being assigned according to a distance of each locationfrom a reference location in the virtual space and at least onephysiological characteristic of a user. In step S1206 the methodcomprises mapping each object to a respective location in the virtualspace according to the priority level associated with at least some ofthe objects and the prominence value assigned to each respectivelocation in the virtual space.

The method and method steps according to the present embodiment aredescribed in more detail below. FIG. 12B shows a block diagram of adevice 1200 for mapping an object to a location in a virtual spaceaccording to embodiments of the disclosure. The device 1200 includes acontrol device processor 1205. The control device processor 1205 istypically embodied as processor circuitry such as a microprocessor whichis configured to operate using computer readable code. The controldevice processor 1205 controls the operation of the device 1200 usingthe computer readable code. Of course, the control device processor 1205may be embodied as hardware (such as an Application Specific IntegratedCircuit or the like).

Additionally connected to the control device processor 1205 is controldevice storage 1210. The control device storage 1210 is a computerreadable storage medium (such as an optically readable, magneticallyreadable or solid state). The control device storage 1210 is configuredto store the computer readable code using which the control deviceprocessor 1205 operates. In addition, user profiles and various datastructures are stored in the control device storage 1210.

Additionally connected to the control device processor 1205 is controldevice communication circuitry 1215. The control device communicationcircuitry 1215 is configured to communicate with other devices which asmay be required according to embodiments of the disclosure. Thiscommunication may be over a wired network (such as an Ethernet network)or may be over a wireless network (such as a WiFi network).

Finally, control device display circuitry 1220 is connected to thecontrol device processor 1205. The control device display circuitry 1220is configured to display, to a user, objects which have been mapped tolocations in the virtual space in accordance with embodiments of thedisclosure. Alternatively or additionally, the control device displaycircuitry 1220 may interact with an Augmented Reality (AR) system or aVirtual Reality (VR) system worn by a user as described with referenceto FIGS. 1, 8 and 9 of the present disclosure.

Acquiring Objects:

While the objects according to the above described example, withreference to FIG. 11, are television channels, it will be appreciatedthat the type of object which is acquired in step S2102 is not limitedin this respect. For example, the objects could relate to a number ofdifferent types of media object including television channel objects,application objects, video and/or audio and/or game streaming serviceobjects, video game objects, photo objects, video objects or the like.In one example, the type of object which is acquired could be based on auser selection. Alternatively, the type of object could be selectedbased on the context of operation (if the user opens a television guideapplication, then the type of object could be television channels whichare available to the user). An individual object may itself comprise amixture of sound, pictures, videos or text for example. An object may bean icon representing for example a channel. The icon need to be staticand may comprise video. The video may be currently transmitted video ora processed version thereof.

For example, as described with reference to FIG. 11, a televisionchannel object can display text describing the current program andfuture programs to be displayed on that channel, alongside a clip ormini-video preview of the currently playing program. These may besub-pictures. For example a stream may carry sub-pictures for multiplechannels concurrently and a particular sub-stream may be demultiplexedby circuitry for display. As a further example, game type objects couldcomprise a preview, sample or description of a game a user has purchasedor may wish to purchase and play in the virtual space.

Furthermore, the plurality of objects need not be of a single type(games for example) but may be any mixture of the objects (games andphotos or games, photos and videos for example). As such, the pluralityof objects can represent a library of digital content owned by the user.

The plurality of objects could further relate to applications which canbe launched by the user. These could be applications which the user haspreviously installed on their device, or they could be web-basedapplications which the user can launch. The applications which areacquired could be customizable by the user, or they could be fixedpre-installed applications. As an example, applications could relate tophoto editing applications, text editing applications, web browsers,email applications or the like. The objects might also relate todifferent menu options which can be selected by the user.

Finally, for example, the plurality of objects which are to be mapped torespective locations in the virtual space could relate to floor numbersor shopping categories in a virtual department store, and the user couldthus navigate through the virtual department store. Priority could bedetermined by the age, sex or interests of a user. Such information maybe pre-stored in memory for example as entered by a user, or may beestimated computationally by a processor. Other types of objects couldrelate to different departments within the department store, and assuch, the user could navigate through the departments of the departmentstore according to the present embodiment. It will be understood thatthe types of objects which may be used is not limited to the aboveexamples, and any digital objects which are to be mapped to respectivelocations in a virtual space may be acquired.

Priority Level:

The priority level is a value which indicates a relative ordering of theplurality of objects. This ordering could be assigned by a userpreference, and need not be acquired at the time when the plurality ofobjects is acquired. Such user preference could relate to objects whichthe user frequently accesses, objects which the user has recentlyaccessed in the past, or objects which the user has expressed particularinterest. For example, the user could have indicated that a given objectis a ‘favourite’ object or the like. Furthermore, an object which theuser has expressed minimal interest in could be an object which isassigned a lower priority level. The priority level assigned to objectswith respect to the user preference can be fixed for a period of time,or can continually adapt in accordance with use or user behaviour.

As an example, consider the situation depicted in FIG. 11. In thisexample, the television channel 1104 is the television channel which theuser had indicated was their favourite channel. However, over the courseof use of the HMD, the user accesses the television channel 1112 morefrequently than that of 1104. Accordingly, the priority level associatedwith the television channel objects 1104 and 1112 is adjustedaccordingly, such that television channel 1112 is mapped to a locationof increased prominence to the user. In this manner, the method ofmapping objects according to the present embodiment adapts to userbehaviour.

Alternatively, or in addition, the priority level could be set inaccordance with an external priority level. That is, the plurality ofobjects which are acquired may have a natural or intended ordering. Forexample, in the case that the objects which are acquired relate toobjects A, B and C, it may be that there is a priority level associatedwith the objects such that the objects remain in the order A, B, C.Alternatively, the priority level may indicate that any other orderingof the plurality of objects is required. The priority level may beacquired at the same time as the acquiring of the plurality of objects,or may be stored in advance or received after the objects are required.

For example, as described above, if the objects represent televisionchannels, the external priority levels associated with at least some ofthe objects may represent the logical channel number (LCN) assigned toeach channel. In this manner, the intended ordering of the objects wouldreflect the ordering of the television channels displayed in known EPGs.

Furthermore, if no priority level is received at any stage before theplurality of objects which are to be mapped to respective locations in avirtual space are mapped to the respective locations in the virtualspace, then the method may further comprise assigning a default prioritylevel to the objects. Such a default priority level could be assignedsimply based on the order in which the plurality of objects wereacquired, or the default priority level could be assigned at random. Thepriority level could be determined by a commercial relationship. AnOver-The-Top internet video provider may pay to have their object aparticular priority level.

Alternatively or in addition, the priority level may be assigned to theplurality of objects such that a subset of the plurality of objects aremapped to respective locations in a specific area of the virtual space.In other words, certain objects of the plurality of objects could beassigned priority levels such that they are intended to be clusteredaround a certain location within the virtual space. Referring totelevision channels by means of an example, it may be that the prioritylevels are assigned such that all the channels from a particularprovider are clustered in a particular location in the virtual space.Alternatively, the priority level could be assigned so that allapplications or channels of a given type or genre are clustered in aparticular location in the virtual space. Assigning priority level inthis manner such that a subset of the plurality of objects are mapped torespective locations in a particular area of the virtual space improvesthe ability of the user to efficiently navigate content of a given type.

In the case that one or more objects share the same priority level, themethod could further comprise modifying the priority level of at leastone of the one or more objects such that each object has a separatepriority level. For example, in the case that an object A and an objectB both have the same priority level of 1, the method could comprisemodifying the priority level of either, or both of the objects A and Bsuch that their respective priority levels were no longer the same. Thereassignment of priority level in this case could be performed by arandom selection, or based upon the order in which the objects wereacquired for example or an order of time spent using or watchinginformation relating to those objects. Their priority level may bedetermined by user behaviour on another computing platform or device andnot in the presently described VR environment/system. For example,priority level could be based on a user's interaction with applicationson a mobile handset. Information relating to the interaction can betransferred to an interface of the VR system. It will be appreciatedthat other methods of reassigning priority level in the case of aconflict between priority levels could be used in accordance with thepresent disclosure.

Assigning Prominence Values:

The prominence value according to the present embodiment defines theprominence an object placed at a given location in the virtual spacewould appear to have to a user viewing the virtual space, For example,if the object is placed at a reference location, wherein the referencelocation is a location in the virtual space directly in front of theuser or where the user is currently looking for example, then the objectwould appear to be very prominent in the virtual space, and would bereadily noticed by the user. In contrast, if the object is placed at adistance further from the reference location, then the object wouldappear to be less prominent and would not be so readily noticed by theuser. The more prominent an object at a given location would be to auser viewing the virtual space, the higher the prominence value wouldbe.

The method may comprise assigning locations in the virtual spaceprominence values at any level of granularity. For example, the size ofeach location in the virtual space which is assigned a priority levelcould be determined based upon the size of the objects which are to bemapped to the respective locations in the virtual space. Alternatively,the size of each location in the virtual space which is assigned apriority level could be based upon the number of objects which are to bemapped to the respective locations in the virtual space. Furthermore,the size of each location could be based upon the available processingpower of the display device displaying the virtual space. In the exampleof FIG. 11, the relevant processing power would therefore be that of theHMD used by the user 1100.

According to the present embodiment of the disclosure, the prominencevalue is assigned according to a distance of each location from areference location in the virtual space and at least one physiologicalcharacteristic of a user, as demonstrated in the example of FIG. 11.With regards to the reference location, it will be understood that suchreference location may be set at any location within the virtual space,but in general represents an area of the virtual space which has thehighest initial prominence value. Therefore, as described above, if anobject is placed at a large distance from the reference location thenthe prominence value of that object will be low. When assigning aprominence value according to embodiments of the disclosure, theprominence value may depend on the linear distance of each respectivelocation from the reference location, or instead depend on a non-linearmapping between the distance of each location from the referencelocation and the prominence value assigned to each location within thevirtual space.

FIG. 13 depicts the distribution of prominence values in atwo-dimensional space according to embodiments of the disclosure. Here,the reference location 1300 is located at the centre of the virtualspace (that is, it is located directly in front of a user who is viewingthe virtual space). The prominence value is thus determined inaccordance with the distance of each respective location in the virtualspace from the reference location 1300. In this example, the virtualspace is categorised into regions, such that region 1302 encompassingthe reference location 1300 is the region of highest prominence, region1304 is the region of medium prominence and region 1306 is the region oflowest prominence. It will be appreciated that while the virtual spaceis depicted in regions in this example, there may of course be acontinuum of prominence values assigned to the virtual space.Furthermore, while a two dimensional virtual space is depicted in FIG.13, the present disclosure is not so limited. For example, the virtualspace may be a three dimensional virtual space, and the prominencevalues may be distributed in relation to a sphere around the referencelocation 1300.

However, even within a three-dimensional space it will be understoodthat the respective locations within the virtual space may be arespective location on a two-dimensional surface within the virtualspace. That is, for example, while the virtual space itself isthree-dimensional, the depth of the respective locations within thethree-dimensional space may be fixed such that the objects are displayedon a surface within the three-dimensional space. FIG. 14 depicts asituation where prominence values are assigned to a two-dimensionalplane within a three-dimensional space according to embodiments of thedisclosure. User 1400 represents the view point of a user in athree-dimensional virtual space 1402. Surface 1404 in the virtual space1402 is restricted to two-dimensions. A plurality of objects 1406 areshown mapped to the two-dimensional surface 1404 within the virtualspace 1402. In embodiments prominence values may relate to planes orsurfaces at different depths of virtual displacements from a user.

Physiological Characteristics:

As stated above, assigning the prominence value representing theprominence of an object at the location when the virtual space is viewedby the user according to embodiments of the disclosure further comprisesconsideration of at least one physiological characteristic of the user.That is, the prominence value assigned to each location in the virtualspace varies in accordance with at least one physiologicalcharacteristic of a user who is viewing the virtual space. Thephysiological characteristic of the user may include characteristicsrelated to neck flexibility of the user or peripheral vision range ofthe user for example. That is, the physiological characteristic mayrelate to the range of motion which the user may comfortably move theirneck through.

FIG. 15 depicts a physiological characteristic according to embodimentsof the disclosure.

The range of motion a typical user may move their neck through variesaccording to the plane of the rotation. That is, from a neutral neckposition (looking directly forwards) It is easier for a user to rotatetheir head in a left to right (or horizontal) direction, as opposed torotation in a up down (or vertical) direction. The typical usertherefore finds that it is easier to rotate their neck to look aposition 1502 on the horizontal axis, than it is to rotate their neck toposition 1504 on the vertical axis. That is, the range of motion throughwhich a typical user may comfortably rotate their head in a horizontaldirection is greater than the range of motion through which a typicaluser may comfortably rotate their head in a vertical direction.

Consider an object located at a distance D from a reference location ina virtual space. It would be easier for the user to rotate their head toview an object at a location D in the virtual space in a horizontaldirection from the reference location than it would be for the user torotate their head in order to view the same object at the same distanceD from the same reference location in a virtual direction. In otherwords, a physiological characteristic of the user, such as that shown inFIG. 15, must be combined with the prominence distribution based on thedistance of the respective location from the reference location (asshown in FIG. 13) in order to assign each location in the virtual spacea prominence value of an object at the location when the virtual spaceis viewed by a user.

FIG. 16 demonstrates an exemplary prominence distribution in a virtualspace according to embodiments of the disclosure. While distributingprominence values around the reference location solely based on thedistance from a central reference location will produce a spherical orradial distribution of prominence values around the reference location,as can be seen in the example of FIG. 16, assigning a prominence valueaccording to a distance of each location from a reference location 1600in the virtual space and at least one physiological characteristic of auser creates a non-isotropic distribution of the prominence value ofeach respective location around the reference location 1600. That is,the prominence value around the reference location is no longer evenlyor spherically distributed around the reference location. Rather, theprominence value is distributed around the reference location inaccordance with the physiological characteristic of the user such thatthe regions in the virtual space where are easier for the user to vieware the regions which are accorded the highest prominence value. Inother words, for example, since the flexibility of the human neck is notisotropic, as described above, the distribution of prominence valuesaround the reference location does not form concentric circles ofequidistance from the reference location. Instead, in this example, thedistribution of the prominence values become elongated along a firstaxis when compared to the distribution of the prominence values along asecond axis in accordance with the physiological characteristic of theuser (such as the neck flexibility).

Therefore, as described with reference to FIG. 13, the highestprominence region is the region 1602 which encompasses referencelocation 1600. Regions 1604 and 1606 represent regions of medium and lowprominence values respectively. While the virtual space in FIG. 16 isdepicted in two dimensions, it will be understood that a similarnon-isotropic, or non-spherical, distribution of the prominence valuearound the reference location 1600 is achieved in a three dimensionalvirtual space. Thus, according to the present disclosure, the prominencevalue of locations, at a fixed distance from the reference location,which are easier for the user to view are enhanced relative to theprominence value of those locations at that fixed distance from thereference location which are more difficult for the user to view inaccordance with a physiological characteristic of the user.

FIG. 17 depicts a physiological characteristic according to embodimentsof the disclosure. In the example of FIG. 17, the physiologicalcharacteristic of the user may relate to the peripheral vision of theuser. The physiological characteristic depicted in FIG. 17 may be usedalternatively or in addition to that depicted in FIG. 15. It can be seenthat the peripheral vision range of the user extends further from acentral location 1700 towards regions such as 1702 in a lower portion ofthe distribution than it does in an upward direction such as location1704. Accordingly, the prominence value representing the prominence ofan object at the location when the virtual space is viewed by a userwill be affected accordingly.

It will be understood that the present disclosure is not intended to belimited only to these examples of a physiological characteristic of theuser, and any such physiological characteristic of the user whichaffects the prominence value distribution may be taken into account whenassigning the prominence value representing the prominence of an objectat a location when the virtual space is viewed by a user according tothe present disclosure. For example, characteristics regarding theuser's eyesight may be taken into account when assigning the prominencevalues to the respective locations, such as whether the user is long orshort sighted. For a short sighted user, objects at a depth beyond agiven depth will appear less prominent than they would for a user who isnot short sighted for example. There may be other user preferencesapplied, such a font, a text size, and whether or not any parallax orperspective correction should be applied to objects rendered atpositions further away from a reference location.

It will further be understood that a combination of physiologicalcharacteristics could be used in accordance with the present disclosure.For example, both the user's neck flexibility and peripheral visioncould be used as physiological characteristics according to the presentdisclosure, or indeed any other combination of physiologicalcharacteristics. Furthermore, according to the present disclosure, thesephysiological characteristics could be applied independently, or couldbe applied in combination by calculating an average value from theindependent physiological characteristics. When applied in combinationthrough an averaging of the independent physiological characteristics, aweighting factor may be applied in order to increase the relativestrength or importance of one or more of the individual physiologicalcharacteristics.

By assigning each respective location in the virtual space a prominencevalue representing the prominence of an object at the location when thevirtual space is viewed by a user, the prominence value being assignedaccording to a distance of each location from a reference location inthe virtual space and at least one physiological characteristic of auser as according to the embodiments of the disclosure it is possible toimprove the assignment of prominence values through the virtual spacesuch that a more realistic distribution of prominence values for a givenuser is obtained.

Mapping Objects to Virtual Space:

As described above, once the prominence value has been assigned to eachrespective location in the virtual space, the objects will then bemapped to their respective locations in the virtual space in accordancewith the prominence value and the at least one physiologicalcharacteristic. It will be appreciated that there are a number of waysin which the mapping between the priority level associated with at leastsome of the objects and the prominence value assigned to each locationmay be performed. For example, mapping each object to the respectivelocation in the virtual space according to the priority level associatedwith at least some of the objects and the prominence value assigned toeach respective location in the virtual space comprises mapping theobject with the highest priority level to the respective location withthe highest prominence value.

FIG. 18 demonstrates a method of a mapping each object to a respectivelocation within the virtual space according to embodiments of thedisclosure. In this exemplary mapping, the objects are mapped to thevirtual space in accordance with their priority level and the prominencevalue assigned to each location in a spiral based mapping. That is, theobject of the plurality of objects with the highest priority value ismapped to the reference location 1800. The plurality of objects are thenmapped in an outward spiral according to decreasing priority value.Mapping the plurality of objects to the virtual space in this mannerensures that the objects which have the higher priority level aredisplayed in a position which has an increased level of prominence. Inthe case where only a certain number of objects have a priority level,those objects without a priority level will be assigned to the leastprominent locations in the virtual space.

Even though the distance between an object at location 1802 and thereference location 1800 is greater than the distance between an objectat location 1804 and the reference location 1800, because of the methodof assigning the prominence value to each location based on both thedistance from the reference location and the at least one characteristicof the user, an object mapped to a location 1802 is more prominent to auser when a user is viewing the virtual space than an object mapped to alocation 1804. It will be understood that such a mapping represents onesuch mapping which can be used in accordance with the presentdisclosure, and other mappings between the priority level associatedwith at least some of the objects and the prominence value assigned toeach respective location may be used. In embodiments, the locations arearranged in a spiral from the reference position. In embodiments theobjects are arranged about concentric ellipses from the referenceposition. In embodiments, the objects are arranged about concentricirregular shapes such as in FIG. 17. The outer irregular shape forexample may represent the consistent extremity to which it iscomfortable to move the neck. Inner irregular shapes may or may not bescaled versions of the outer irregular shape.

According to the present embodiment of the disclosure, the mapping ofeach object to the respective location in the virtual space according tothe priority level associated with at least some of the objects and theprominence value assigned to each location in the virtual space may beupdated after a predetermined time or in accordance with a userpreference. In this manner, when the mapping is updated the mapping ofthe objects may change in accordance with a change in the priority levelas described above. By updating the mapping after a predetermined time,it can be ensured that the mapping of the objects in the virtual spacewill not change at too high a frequency, which might frustrate the user.Alternatively or in addition, changing the mapping in accordance with auser preference ensures that the user can decide when the mapping shouldbe updated, such that if the priority level associated with at leastsome of the objects changes (owing to a change in user interest forexample) the mapping can be updated to reflect this change. Circuitrymay be controlled such that a user can reserve some positions forcertain objects such that their position is predictable even if updatingoccurs, making them easier to find.

By mapping each object to the respective location in the virtual spaceaccording to the priority level associated with at least some of theobjects and the prominence value assigned to each location in thevirtual space as according to the present embodiment, it becomespossible to easily navigate a large number of objects since the objectswhich are of higher priority (or increased interest) are mapped tolocations within the virtual space having increased prominence. Thecontent most likely desired by a user, where the priority level is setin accordance with use preference as described above, may therefore beaccessed quicker and easier. User frustration is thus reduced.

FIG. 19 illustrates a flow chart of a method of mapping an object to alocation in a virtual space according to an embodiment of thedisclosure. Here, steps S1904 to S1910 are the same as steps S1202 toS1208 respectively described above with reference to FIG. 12A, and so,for brevity, a repetition of those steps will not be included at thisstage.

Step S1902 is a step of performing an initial calibration in order todetermine the physiological characteristic of the user. That is, whileit will be appreciated that a default physiological characteristicrepresentative of a generic user may be used to effect (such as thosedescribed with reference to FIGS. 15 and 17) there may be variationbetween the physiological characteristics of different users. Byperforming an initial calibration in order to determine thephysiological characteristic of the user prior to performing the mappingdescribed with reference to FIG. 12A, it is possible to further improvethe mapping of the plurality of objects to respective locations in thevirtual space such that objects with the highest priority level aremapped to respective locations which have the highest prominence valuesfor a given user.

The initial calibration may be performed a single time, such as when auser first uses the device implementing the method of FIG. 19. Thecalibration of the physiological characteristics may then be stored in amemory, such that they can be accessed when the user uses the device ata later stage. Alternatively or in addition, the calibration of thephysiological characteristic may be stored against a user profile, suchthat each user performs an individual calibration of the physiologicalcharacteristic. In this case, the calibration of the physiologicalcharacteristic used would vary depending upon the user who is currentlyusing the device.

The initial calibration may also be performed each time the deviceimplementing the method of FIG. 19 is used, after a certain amount oftime has expired or after a certain number of uses of the device. It mayalso be possible for the user to access a menu such that they canrequest the calibration is to be updated.

It will be appreciated that the manner of performing the initialcalibration depends on the physiological parameter of the user which isbeing calibrated. Furthermore, for each physiological parameter, theremay be a number of processes which could be performed in order tocalibrate that parameter.

For example, the physiological parameter may relate to related to neckflexibility of the user as demonstrated with reference to FIG. 15. Inorder to perform the calibration, the user could be asked to rotatetheir head through the full comfortable range of motion along a givenaxis. The user could indicate that they have reached the end of thecomfortable range by pausing at a given position for a predeterminedtime, performing an input gesture or the like. By repeating thecalibration along a number axes it is possible to perform a calibrationof the physiological characteristic of the user.

In the case whereby the display device corresponds to a virtual realityor an augmented reality headset as described above, the rotation of theuser's head could be detected by the headset itself. Alternatively, ifthe display device corresponds to a two-dimensional display devicescreen such as a television screen, a computer screen an image projectedonto a wall from a projector or the like, then the rotation of theuser's head could be monitored by a camera for example. Alternatively,an object could be placed on the screen at a number of locations, andthe user could be asked to rate the level of comfort of rotation oftheir neck at each location. Accordingly, a calibration of thephysiological characteristic for the user could be obtained.

A calibration for the peripheral vision range of the user could beperformed by moving an object through the virtual space, and asking auser to indicate, without rotating their head, when that object stopsbeing visible. Alternatively, an object could be placed at a number ofdiscrete locations, and the user could be asked, again without rotatingtheir head from an initial position, whether that object is visible ornot at each location. The user could also indicate a level ofvisibility, such as poor visibility, medium visibility and goodvisibility or the like.

As stated above, the form of the calibration will depend upon thephysiological characteristic of the user which is being calibrated.Furthermore, it will be appreciated that the above examples of acalibration mechanism are provided as examples which could be usedaccording to embodiments of the disclosure, and that other methods ofcalibration could be used alone or in combination with the above inaccordance with the present disclosure.

Navigation through Virtual Space:

FIG. 20 illustrates a flow chart of a method of mapping an object to alocation in a virtual space according to an embodiment of thedisclosure.

Steps S2000 to S2006 are the same as steps S1200 to S1206 respectivelyas described above with reference to FIG. 12A, and so, for brevity, arepetition of those steps will not be included at this stage. Once eachobject has been mapped to the respective location in the virtual spaceaccording to the priority level associated with at least some of theobjects and the prominence value assigned to each respective location inthe virtual space in step S2006, the method proceeds to step S2008.

Step S2008, comprises displaying the virtual space on a display forviewing by a user. That is, in step S2008 each object of the pluralityof objects is displayed on a display at the respective location in thevirtual space to which it has been mapped. For example, step S2008 maycomprise displaying the virtual space on a two dimensional display. Atwo-dimensional display may comprise a television screen, a computerscreen, an image projected onto a wall from a projector or the like. Itwill be appreciated that while the display is two-dimensional, thevirtual space itself may be either two-dimensional or three-dimensionalor be a two-dimensional plane or surface in a three-dimensionalenvironment.

Furthermore, as described above, the plurality of objects could bemapped to respective locations within the three-dimensional virtualspace, or could be mapped only to a respective location on atwo-dimensional surface within the virtual space (as demonstrated withreference to FIG. 14. This may be advantageous for display on anaugmented reality display, where the plurality of objects in the virtualspace are mapped to a two-dimensional surface within the virtual spacethat corresponds to a surface in the real world space. The plurality ofobjects could be displayed on a wall, floor, table or the like in thereal world in accordance with the priority level associated with atleast some of the objects and the prominence value assigned to eachrespective location in the virtual space during step S2004.

Once the virtual space, comprising the plurality of objects mapped torespective locations according to the priority level associated with atleast some of the objects and the prominence value assigned to eachlocation in the virtual space has been displayed, the method proceeds tostep S2010, which is a step of monitoring for an input. The input couldof course relate to an input to move the current viewpoint in thevirtual space. In the case of a virtual reality or augmented realityheadset, for example, this could correspond to a rotation of the user'shead for example, gaze tracking to determine where the user is looking,or a mixture of both of these methods.

However, the input could further relate to an input whereby the user mayselect an object of the plurality of objects mapped to a respectivelocation in the virtual space as an object of interest out of theplurality of objects mapped to the virtual space. That is, the objectsmapped to a respective location in the virtual space could be selectableby as an object of interest. An object of interest could relate to anobject upon which the user wishes to perform an action such as obtainingmore information, activating, editing or the like. The object ofinterest could expand in order to accommodate the additionalinformation, or additional information could be displayed around theobject of interest, in front of the object of interest or the like.Alternatively or in addition, the additional information regarding theobject of interest could be provided in the form of sound, speech orvideo. For example, in the case that the object relates to a televisionchannel object, the additional information could relate to additionalinformation regarding the program currently playing on that channel orthe like. Furthermore, the video could relate to a small window of thecurrently playing program which could be expanded upon furtherselection. In this case, the sound could relate to the sound beingbroadcast on the channel, or could relate to a speech announcement ofthe program for example. The additional information may be used toprovide an accessibility aid for disabled or impaired users.

The action which the user wishes to perform is not limited in thisrespect, and will vary depending on the type of object which the objectrelates. The object of interest may also be an object upon which theuser does not wish to perform a further action upon, instead relating toan object which the user has merely expressed an enhanced level ofinterest in.

The object of interest could be detected by monitoring the gaze of theuser through eye tracking and identifying an object as the object ofinterest when the gaze of the user remains on the object for a timegreater than a predetermined time. Alternatively, or in addition, theobject could be detected once the user is looking at an object and theuser performs an additional input. The additional input could be in theform of a gesture or facial expression, or could be in the form of aninput sound. For example, the user could say a predetermined activationword in order that the object which they are currently looking at isdetected as the object of interest.

The detection of the object of interest may also comprise the use of aninput device. For example, in the case of a display screen such as atelevision, the user may navigate through the objects usingpredetermined buttons on a remote control device, and may further selectan object as an object of interest by pressing an additional button onthe remote control device.

The object which has currently been navigated to, and which may becomethe object of interest if the user performs an additional inputselection, may be indicated to the user in the form of a visual effect.For example, the object may move, rotate, flash or the like.Alternatively or in addition, a box could appear around the objectdesignated as the current object of interest for example.

Once an object of the plurality of objects has been selected as anobject of interest, the method could further comprise the method furthercomprises setting the respective location of that object designated asthe object of interest in the virtual space as the reference location.That is, the prominence value assigned to each location in the virtualspace could be recalculated in accordance with the selection of theobject of interest. Since the prominence value is assigned according toa distance of each location from a reference location in the virtualspace and at least one physiological characteristic of a user, changingthe reference location in this manner will change the prominence valuewhich has been assigned to each location. For example, if the referencelocation had previously been set as a central location as demonstratedin FIG. 16, and the user subsequently set an object at location 1608 asan object of interest, then the prominence values around the currentobject of interest may increase, while the prominence values at thecentral location may decrease (since they are further from the referencelocation). However, the central location may still have an elevatedprominence level compared to surround respective locations, owing to theat least one physiological characteristic.

Accordingly, if the mapping and display are updated in accordance withthe change in assignment of prominence levels, the plurality of objectsmay be re-mapped to respective locations in the virtual space accordingto the priority level associated with at least some of the objects andthe prominence value assigned to each location in the virtual space.That is, upon detected said input in step S2010, the method could thusreturn to step S2004. In this manner, the objects of high priority maycontinue to be placed at the most prominent position in the virtualspace in accordance with the selection of an object of interest whichfurther improves the navigation through a large number of objects sincethe objects which are of higher priority (or increased interest) aremapped to locations within the virtual space having increasedprominence; even in a virtual space of limited size.

Alternatively, once an object of the plurality of objects has beenselected as an object of interest, the method could further comprisere-mapping at least one of the plurality of objects such that the objectof interest is located at the reference location. For example,considering the example in FIG. 18. It may be that the user selects theobject at the location 1808 as the object of interest, even though thatobject was initial placed at a location with decreased prominencecompared to an object such as 1810. However, once the user has selectedobject 1808 as the object of interest, the priority levels associatedwith the objects could be updated such that the object of interestbecomes the object with the highest priority level. Accordingly, oncethe re-mapping has been performed as described above, according to thepriority level associated with at least some of the objects and theprominence value assigned to each location in the virtual space, theobject at location 1808, which has been selected as the object ofinterest, would be re-mapped to the most prominent position in thevirtual space. That is, object would then be displayed at the referencelocation 1800 as opposed to the object previously mapped to thatlocation.

Re-mapping at least one of the plurality of objects such that the objectof interest is located at the reference location in this manner, ensuresthat the object in which the user has indicated a renewed interest in,by selecting the object as the object as interest, is then re-mapped tothe location in the virtual space which has the highest level ofprominence and to which it is easiest to navigate. In the case that saidobjects corresponds to a film (movie) object for example, the filmselected by the user is consequentially re-mapped to the most naturalviewing location for the user. This further improves navigation throughthe content and improves user experience. Accordingly, even when thespace available for providing the user with the plurality of objects islimited, the most pertinent information can be provided to the user.Alternatively, when the object is selected as the object of interest,the method could further comprise generating a second virtual space,wherein a second plurality of objects are mapped to respective locationsin the second virtual space and the object of interest is mapped to areference location in the second virtual space. In other words theselection of an object of the plurality of objects mapped to respectivelocations in the virtual space as an object of interest according to thepresent embodiment could open a second virtual space. In the secondvirtual space, a second plurality of objects could be displayed. Thissecond plurality of objects could overlap with the first plurality ofobjects in some respect. For example, both the first and secondplurality of objects could comprise the object which has been selectedas the object of interest by the user. The object of interest would thenbe mapped to a reference location in this second virtual space (such asthe central location most natural to be viewed by a user). That is, theobject of interest would be set as the object having the highestpriority level in the second virtual space.

FIG. 21 depicts an example of generating a second virtual spaceaccording to embodiments of the disclosure. In the first virtual space2100, a first plurality of objects have been mapped to respectivelocations within the virtual space according to embodiments of thedisclosure. When the user selects object 2102 as the object of interest,a second virtual space 2104 is generated and displayed to the user. Asecond plurality of objects 2106 are then mapped to respective locationswithin the second virtual space in accordance with a priority levelassociated with at least some of the objects and a prominence valueassigned to each location in the virtual space (the prominence valuebeing assigned according to a distance of each location from a referencelocation in the virtual space and at least one physiologicalcharacteristic of a user). The user may then navigate through the secondplurality of objects as described above.

The second plurality of objects may be related to the first plurality ofobjects in a certain respect. For example, in the case that the objectsrelate to television channel objects, the second plurality of objectscould relate to other channels from that provider, or programs which areavailable on that channel for example. Alternatively, where the objectrelates to a menu object, the second plurality of objects could relateto sub-menus, or further options available in that menu.

By generating a second virtual space in this manner, it is possible tofurther improve the navigation through a large number of objectsdisplayed in a virtual space. That is, since objects related to theobject of interest are re-mapped to a location in a second virtual spacein accordance with their associated priority level and the prominencelevel of that space it becomes easier to navigate to a specific objectfrom the large number of objects in which the user has expressed aninterest even where the available virtual space is very limited.

Furthermore, there may be a transition effect to change from the firstvirtual space to the second virtual space. This could comprise theobjects flying in and out of the view of the user, a fade or wipe effector the like. Performing a transition effect in this manner increases theusers experience and level of immersion.

In addition to the above operations regarding the object of interest,the method could further comprise mapping objects which are unavailableto be selected as the object of interest to a respective location at adepth further from the user in the virtual space. That is, for example,if the objects relate to television channel objects, then it may be thatwhile a certain channel is listed, it is not currently available forselection. This may be because the channel is not currently beingbroadcast on, the service is only available at certain times, or may bebecause the user does not have certain access rights. These accessrights may relate to channels for which the user must pay to access, ormay relate to channels which are restricted in accordance with parentalcontrol settings or the like. These objects which can not be selectedcould then be set at an increased depth in the virtual space from theuser's view point, such that the user can see that these objects can notbe selected before navigating to them. In order to place the object atan increased depth, the priority level of objects unavailable forselection could be reduced. As such, these objects would be re-mapped tolocations in the virtual space with reduced levels of prominence. Whenan object becomes available for selection again, the object could bereturned to its previous priority level.

Modifying the prominence level of objects currently unavailable forselection in this manner reduces the likelihood of a user navigating toan object only to find that the object is currently unavailable forselection, thereby reducing the level of user frustration whennavigating through a large number of objects mapped to respectivelocations in the virtual space according to embodiments of thedisclosure.

Additional Modifications:

Embodiments of the disclosure provide a method of mapping an object to alocation in a virtual space, the method comprising:

acquiring a plurality of objects which are to be mapped to respectivelocations in a virtual space;

assigning each respective location in the virtual space a prominencevalue representing the prominence of an object at the location when thevirtual space is viewed by a user, the prominence value being assignedaccording to a distance of each location from a reference location inthe virtual space;

mapping each object to a respective location in the virtual spaceaccording to a priority level associated with at least some of theobjects and the prominence value assigned to each respective location inthe virtual space.

In other words, the prominence of the location may be determined by thedistance of the location from the reference location alone. Thereference location may be the location which is easiest in the virtualspace for the user to view, and thus the location having the highestinherent level of prominence to the user. Alternatively, the referencelocation may relate to a location set by the user as their favouritelocation in the virtual space or the like.

Advantageous Effects

By mapping each object to the respective location in the virtual spaceaccording to the priority level associated with at least some of theobjects and the prominence value assigned to the virtual space, itbecomes possible for the user to easily navigate a large number ofobjects since the objects which are of higher priority (or increasedinterest) are mapped to locations within the virtual space havingincreased prominence. User frustration when navigating and accessing alarge plurality of digital objects is thus reduced even where theavailable virtual space or display screen size is limited with respectto the large plurality of digital objects which must be displayed. Thedisclosure is not limited to these advantages; there may be others.

Mapping Objects to a Location in a Virtual Space in Accordance with aPurchase Value:

A method of mapping an object to a location in a virtual space accordingto the present embodiment may be applied to the navigation of a userthrough a large number of digital objects, such as television channels,displayed in a virtual environment. In this example, the object which isdetermined to be mapped to a given location in the virtual space of agiven prominence level, is not determined in accordance with a prioritylevel such as the LCN, but is rather determined in accordance with apurchase value and a received payment.

That is, according to the present embodiment, it is possible for thirdparties to provide payment for placement of their television channel ata location in the virtual space having a given level of prominence to auser. For example, payment could be made such that a given televisionchannel, content streaming services or application launching icon isplaced in the virtual space in a location of high prominence, and thethird party providing the payment would known that the televisionchannel would have a certain level of priority or exposure to the user.It will be appreciated that the teachings of the present embodiment arenot particularly limited to these objects, but rather can be applied toany of the types of digital object described with reference to FIG. 11of the present disclosure.

FIG. 22A illustrates a flow chart of a method of mapping an object to alocation in a virtual space according to an embodiment of thedisclosure. Step S2202 comprises assigning each respective location in avirtual space a prominence value representing the prominence of anobject at the location when the virtual space is viewed by a user, theprominence value being assigned according to a distance from eachlocation to a reference location in the virtual space and at least onephysiological characteristic of a user. Step S2204, comprisesdetermining a purchase value for each location in the virtual spacerepresenting the payment required to place an object at each location inthe virtual space, the purchase value being determined at leastaccording to the prominence value assigned to each location in thevirtual space. Step S2206 comprises, in response to receiving payment,mapping the object to a location in the virtual space according to thepayment information associated with the item of data and the purchasevalue of each location in the virtual space.

Step S2202 is the same as step S1204 described with reference to FIG.12A above. For brevity, a repetition regarding the details of this stepwill not be included at this stage.

The method according to the present embodiment is described in moredetail below.

Purchase Value:

Once the prominence value has been assigned to each location in thevirtual space, an initial purchase value for each location in thevirtual space needs to be determined. As described above, the purchasevalue relates to the prominence of that location to a user viewing thevirtual space. In this manner, the purchase value relates to a valuethat a third party would pay in order to have an object placed at thatlocation in the virtual space. The value could relate to a purchasevalue for a given amount of time; that is, an amount of money whichwould have to be paid to place an object at a given location in thevirtual space, determined in accordance with the prominence of thatlocation, for a given amount of time.

The manner by which the initial purchase value is determined is notparticularly limited, provided that it is determined in accordance withthe prominence value assigned to each location in the virtual space. Forexample, there could be a tiered system, whereby locations arecategorized into regions in accordance with their prominence value. Forexample, regions of high prominence could be assigned a first purchasevalue, regions of medium prominence assigned a second purchase valuelower than the first purchase value and regions of low prominenceassigned a third purchase value. Alternatively, each region could beassigned an individual purchase value in accordance with descendingprominence value. Furthermore, there may be a linear mapping between theprominence of the location and the purchase value, or the regions withthe highest prominence value could be assigned a premium level ofpurchase value.

In embodiments, the purchase value may determine the prominence value oractual location. For example an auction may be held with the highestbidder being assigned the highest (available) prominence value orindeed, their choice of location. A next highest bidder may have thenext choice of location.

Mapping Objects to Virtual Space:

In response to receiving payment associated with an object, thecorresponding object is then mapped to a location in the virtual spacein accordance to the payment which has been received. For example, ifthe payment information indicates that payment corresponds to thepurchase value associated with a location of a given prominence value,the object with which that payment is associated will be placed at saidlocation.

It will be appreciated that the payment may be received by any method,and does not need to be received directly by a device used by the user.For example, the payment could be received by a central server, and thedevice could be notified of that payment. Notably, in response to apayment being received, the object corresponding to that location willbe mapped to a respective location in the virtual space according to thepayment information associated with the object and the purchase value ofeach location in the virtual space.

There is no particular restriction upon the type of object which couldbe used in accordance with the present embodiment. For example, and asdescribed in above, the object could relate to media objects includingat least one of television channels, streaming services, games, films(movies), photos, videos, applications which are launchable, or menuoptions which are selectable by the user or the like. In particular, theobject could relate to a sample portion of one of these objects, anadvertisement regarding an available object or the like. In the case oftelevision channels the object could, for example, relate to arestricted service such as a subscription channel. The purchase valuewould then relate to the value to place the restricted service in alocation with a given prominence value; even if the user does not haveaccess to that service. Alternatively, the object could relate to avideo advert promoting a particular product or service in which the usermay have interest. In this case, the purchase value relates to the valueto place the video advert at a location in the virtual space with agiven prominence value.

Mapping an object to a location in the virtual space according to thepresent embodiment provides a level of certainty to third partiesregrading the level of prominence that an object will have once it isplaced in the virtual space in response to a payment. Furthermore, sincethe number of purchase locations can be restricted in this manner, themethod according to the present embodiment ensures that the user caneffectively navigate through a large number of objects includingpurchase value objects.

Furthermore, the virtual space in accordance with the present embodimentcould relate solely to purchase value placed objects, or there may be arestricted number of purchase value locations within the virtual spacewith the remaining locations in the virtual space being assigned objectsin accordance with the method described with reference to FIG. 12A. Inthis manner, the virtual space could comprise a plurality of objectswith which the user has expressed interest, and a number of purchasevalue objects.

Relocation of Objects Upon Expiry of Payments:

As described above, in some embodiments an object mapped to a locationin the virtual space may be mapped to that location for a set amount oftime. For example, if a payment is received to place an object at alocation having a given purchase value then the object will be mapped tothat location. However, in embodiments, once a timer associated withthat object expires then that object will be removed from the virtualspace, or placed at a respective location of low prominence, until afurther payment matching the purchase value of the location is received.However, a user may become accustomed to having an object at a certainlocation in the virtual space, even if that object was initially placedat the prominent location by virtue of received payment information asdescribed above. According to embodiments, the method described withreference to FIG. 22A may further comprise receiving an indication froma user that an object mapped to a first location in the virtual spaceshould be consistently mapped to a predetermined location in the virtualspace, and instructing a payment from the purchaser of the firstlocation to the owner of the virtual reality platform or environment.

In other words, the user may indicate that they wish an object toconsistently remain at the location to which it has presently beenmapped. It will be appreciated that such indication could be performedin a number of ways, and the present disclosure is not particularlylimited in this regard. For example, the user may indicate that theobject should remain at the present location through an input gesture,speech input, behavioural patterns, use of an input control device orthe like. Furthermore, the user could flag the object as an object ofinterest, or a favourite object to which they wish to return. Uponreceiving an indication that the user wishes the object, which has beenplaced at a given location in the virtual space by virtue of a payment,to remain at that location, a payment request is made to the purchaserof the location. That is, the purchaser is instructed that the user hasrequested that the object remain at that location, and is informed that,upon receipt of further payment, the object will remain at the purchaselocation.

If payment is not received from the initial purchaser, then, accordingto embodiments, the object will be relocated in the virtual space oncethe initial payment has expired. However, since the user has indicatedthat the object is a favourite object, the user will be informed of thechange in location of that object. For example, the user could beinformed that the object has been relocated, and instructed of the newlocation in the virtual space to which the object has been relocated.Alternatively, the user could be provided with a link to the newlocation of the object in the virtual space.

Accordingly, even if an object with which a user has expressed interestis relocated to a less prominent location in the virtual space once thepayment associated with that object has expired, the user can stillefficiently navigate through the virtual space to that object.

Threshold Levels of Interest:

While a user may be ambivalent towards certain purchase objects placedin the virtual space, the user may in fact display a certain level ofinterest towards other purchase objects. This is particularly likely ifthe purchase object placed at a given location in the virtual space isparticularly attractive to the user in some regard. For example, suchobject could relate to advert for a purchased television channel orportal showing a sporting event the user is particularly interested inor the like. As described above, there are a number of mechanisms bywhich the level of interest of a user in a given purchase object can bedetermined, and the present disclosure is not particularly limited inthis regard. In embodiments, the level of interest a user displays inobjects which have been mapped to respective locations in the virtualspace is monitored and recorded for each object. This could be monitoredand recorded continuously, periodically or only when a change in thelevel of interest has been determined, for example.

According to embodiments of the disclosure, the method according to FIG.22A further comprises identifying a level of interest of a user in anobject at a respective location adjacent to a first location after theuser has displayed interest in the object at the first location anddetermining whether the level of interest displayed by the user in theobject at the respective location exceeds a threshold value. When it isdetermined that the level of interest exceeds the threshold value, themethod further comprises instructing a payment to the purchaser of thefirst location in response to the interest shown in the object at therespective location.

In other words, if a user displays a certain level of interest in afirst object, and subsequent to that interest being displayed proceedsto display an increased level of interest in objects at locationadjacent to that object in the virtual space, then it is determined thatthe user is displaying increased levels of interest in those objectslocated at the respective adjacent locations by virtue of theirproximity to the first object in which the object has displayed anincreased level of interest. Furthermore, the proximity of those objectsto the object in which the user has expressed a certain level ofinterest may effectively detract from the prominence of the firstobject. Accordingly, the owner of the objects at respective locationsadjacent to the first object are instructed to make a payment to theowner of the first object in compensation for the reduction inprominence.

It will be appreciated that the manner by which the payment is made inresponse to the determination is not particularly limited. For example,such payment could be made directly between the third parties in theform of a micropayment or payment in kind. Alternatively, the paymentcould be made via the owner of the virtual space. Furthermore, in someembodiments, the payment could represent a single one off paymentrelative to the increase in the level of interest, while alternatively,a micropayment or the like could be instructed each time the uservisits, accesses or displays an increased level of interest in an objectadjacent to the object at the prominent location in which the user hasdisplayed a certain level of interest.

It will be appreciated that the threshold level may be set by anymechanism dependent upon the situation, and is not particularly limitedin this regard. However, in embodiments, the threshold level of interestcould be set independently for each object based upon the previouslevels of interest the user has displayed in an object. Thus, anysignificant increase in the interest the user displays in a locationadjacent to an object of high prominence in which the user has displayeda certain level of interest, can be determined to be triggered by theproximity to the object in which the user has displayed a certain levelof interest.

Determination of the threshold levels of interest according toembodiments of the disclosure may restrict the opportunities of thirdparties to (unfairly) capitalise upon and detract from the prominence ofan object placed by a competitor, thus providing an increased level ofcertainty to a purchaser that a given object for which payment isreceived will achieve a certain degree of prominence and exposure to theuser.

Modification of Initial Purchase Value:

While the initial purchase value which is assigned to each respectivelocation in the virtual space is determined in accordance with the givenprominence of that location by virtue of the distance from a referencelocation and at least one physiological characteristic as describedabove, it will be appreciated that the purchase value of each respectivelocation is not fixed to this initial purchase value but rather may varyin accordance with a number of factors. For example, the purchase valueassigned to a given region or location could vary if the prominence ofthat location is determined to have changed. For example, if thereference location is changed then the purchase value of the respectiveregions will be updated accordingly. By means of a further example, ifthe user recalibrates the physiological characteristic (changing from adefault value to a value tailored for that user) then the purchase valueassigned to each respective location in the virtual space will beupdated accordingly.

Furthermore, the purchase value assigned to a region of a givenprominence could also vary in response to demand. For example, if alarge number of third parties are interested in placing an object at agiven location in the virtual space, the purchase value of that locationcould increase accordingly. Alternatively or in addition, the purchasevalue could vary in response to the total number of objects which havebeen placed in the virtual space. That is, if the number of remainingavailable locations for placement of an object in the virtual space islow, then the purchase value of those available locations will beincreased accordingly.

It will be appreciated that initially, while purchase values may havebeen assigned to the respective locations in the virtual space, thenumber of objects actually mapped to those respective locations may below or even zero. That is, until payment has been received no objectwill be mapped to those respective locations in the virtual space.Moreover, as described above, even if a payment is received such that anobject is placed at a location in the virtual space, it may be that theplacement is time limited, such that after a period of time has expiredthe object will be removed from that location. An occupation status cantherefore be assigned to each respective location in the virtual space,indicating whether or not payment that respective location is occupiedby an object. Initially, before objects have been placed in the virtualspace, the occupation status of the respective locations in the virtualspace will be empty. As objects are subsequently placed in the virtualspace, in response to payments being received, the occupation status ofthe respective locations in the virtual space will therefore change toindicate that the respective locations are occupied.

According to embodiments of the disclosure, the purchase value assignedto a respective location in the virtual space may also vary once objectshave been mapped to respective locations in the virtual space. That is,the method according to FIG. 22A may further comprise a step ofmonitoring an occupation status of a first location in the virtualspace, and modifying the purchase value of one or more respectivelocations adjacent to the first location when the occupation status ofthe first location changes.

FIG. 22B depicts an exemplary configuration of purchase locationsthrough a virtual space in accordance with embodiments of thedisclosure. In this example, the occupation status of locations 2200,2202, 2204, 2206 and 2208 is initially empty. Accordingly, these regionshave been assigned initial purchase values in accordance withembodiments of the disclosure. Consider then that a payment is receivedto place an object at location 2200, such that an object is mapped tothis location and the occupation status of location 2200 changes fromempty to occupied. Upon determination that the occupation status oflocation 2200 has changed, the purchase values assigned to locations2202, 2204, 2206 and 2208 will be modified. That is, the purchase valueof these locations may change from the initial purchase value inaccordance with the change of the occupation status of location 2200.

It will further be appreciated that while the modification of purchasevalues is described with reference to a change in the occupation statusof location 2200, a change in occupation status of any of the locations2202, 2204, 2206 or 2208 may also cause a modification in the purchaselocations of the adjacent locations within the virtual space. Themagnitude of the change in purchase value may depend upon a distance inthe virtual space between the respective locations and the location forwhich the occupation status has changed. For example, the purchase valueof location 2208 may be unchanged, or changed by a lesser amount thanlocation 2200, following a change in occupation status of location 2202.

By modifying the purchase value of the respective locations adjacent toa first location upon a change of the occupation status of the firstlocation in this manner according to embodiments of the disclosure, itis possible to obtain an adaptive distribution of the purchase valuethroughout the virtual space which reflects the true prominence of thatlocation to a give user.

The mechanism by which the purchase value of a location is modifiedfollowing a change in the occupation of a first location may varydepending upon given situations. For example, in one such situation, themodification of the purchase value of the one or more respectivelocations adjacent to the first location may be based on the object thathas been mapped to the first location when the occupation status of thefirst location changes. That is, consider that the occupation status oflocation 2200 changes from empty to occupied in accordance with apayment being received. The amount by which the purchase value ofrespective locations 2202, 2204, 2206 and 2208 changes may depend uponthe object which has been mapped to location 2200 in the virtual space.For example, if the object mapped to location 2200 in the virtual spaceis an advert for a particularly high value or attractive commodity, thenthe modification of the purchase value of adjacent locations 2202, 2204,2206 and 2208 following the change of occupation status of location 2200will be large. In contrast, if the object mapped to location 2200 is anadvert for a less attractive commodity, then the modification in thepurchase value of location 2202, 2204, 2206 and 2208 will be relativelysmall in comparison.

Furthermore, it will be appreciated that the purchase value ofrespective locations may also be modified if the occupation status of afirst location changes from occupied to empty, following the expiry of atime period for which a payment has been made to place an object at arespective location in the virtual space. That is, those respectiveregions may return to their initial purchase value for example, or maysimply be reduced by an amount determined by the type of object whichwas placed at the first location.

In embodiments, the modification of the purchase value of the one ormore respective locations adjacent to the first location may further bebased on the identity of an intended purchaser of the one or morerespective locations in the virtual space. That is, consider that anobject has been mapped to location 2200 in the virtual space, such thatthe occupation status of that location changes from empty to occupied.If the object mapped to location 2200 is an advert for a particularlyattractive object, such as a new car, then the purchase values of therespective locations 2202, 2204, 2206 and 2208 will increaseaccordingly. Furthermore, if a third party who also sells carssubsequently attempts to purchase location 2202 to place an advert inthe virtual space adjacent to location 2200, then the purchase value of2202 may further increase owing to the particular beneficial effect thethird party will experience from having their own advert placed adjacentto the initial car advert at 2200. In contrast, if a third party whodoes not sell cars, or sells only items entirely unrelated to the objectplaced at the first location, attempts to purchase location 2202 toplace an advert in the virtual space, then the purchase location of thatobject may only increase by a small amount. In other words, the identityof the third party attempting to purchase subsequent locations in thevirtual space adjacent following the purchase of a first location in thevirtual space may further modify the purchase value of the respectiveadjacent locations. It will be appreciated that the present disclosureis not particularly limited to the specific example described above, andany modification of the purchase values of respective locations basedupon the identify of the subsequent intended purchaser may be applied inaccordance with the present disclosure.

Alternatively or in addition, the purchase value of the one or morerespective locations adjacent to the first location may also be basedupon the object intended to be mapped to those respective locations bythe intended purchaser. For example, regardless of the identity of theintended purchaser, the purchase value may be modified depending on thesimilarity between the object which has been placed at the firstlocation and the object which is intended to be placed at the subsequentlocation in the virtual space. That is, even if the third partyintending to purchase a location in the virtual space adjacent to afirst occupied location does not typically trade in commodities whichwould benefit from being nearby the object mapped to the first location,yet the specific object which they are seeking to place in the virtualspace is in fact an object which would benefit from this proximity, thenthe purchase value of the respective adjacent location can be modifiedaccordingly. Conversely, if the third party intending to purchase alocation in the virtual space adjacent to a first occupied locationfrequently trades in commodities which would benefit from being nearbythe object mapped to the first location, yet the specific object whichthey are seeking to place in the virtual space is an object which wouldnot benefit from the proximity, then the purchase value of therespective adjacent location may be modified by a smaller amount fromthe initial purchase value.

In embodiments of the disclosure, the purchase value of the one or morerespective adjacent locations 2202, 2204, 2206 and 2208 could bemodified in accordance with the level of interest which has beendisplayed in the object mapped to the first location of user beingtarget users for the object intended for placement at the one or morerespective locations by an intended purchaser. In other words, the moreinterest which is displayed in the first object by a user or users whois or are likely to be interested in the object which is intended to beplaced at the one or more respective adjacent locations, the greater themodification of the purchase value of those respective locations fromthe initial purchase value of those respective locations will be.

It will be appreciated that there are numerous ways to determine thelevel of interest of a user in the object which has been placed at thefirst location. For example, it could be determined by the number oftimes a user accesses the object placed at the first location, ananalysis of the gaze pattern of a user, the number of links orreferences the user makes to the object when communicating with otherusers or the like. In the specific example of an advertisement placed inthe virtual space, the level of interest could further be determinedbased upon the number of purchases the user has made based on theadvert, or based upon whether the user follows the advert to an onlineretailer for example. Any number of measures, or combinations of thesemeasures, of the level of interest may be used in accordance with thepresent disclosure.

According to embodiments of the disclosure, the method, may compriseidentifying a level of interest in an object at a first location, andmodifying the purchase value of locations adjacent to the first locationbased on an identified level interest in the object at a first location.For example, when it is determined that the object at the first locationis an object with a high level of interests, the purchase value oflocations adjacent to the first location may be increased accordingly.

The impact of the level of interest the user or users have displayed inthe first object upon the purchase value of respective locations in thevirtual space adjacent to that first location may be modulated inaccordance with the compatibility of that object with the object whichis subsequently intended to be placed in the virtual space adjacent tothat first object. For example, if an advert for a highly attractiveobject such as a car is placed at location 2200, and the user or usershave displayed a high level of interest in that advert (such as bywatching the advert a significant number of times) then the purchasevalues of respective adjacent locations 2202, 2204, 2206 and 2208 willbe modified accordingly. However, the increase in the purchase values ofthese respective locations will be greater if the intended object to beplaced at those respective locations is closely related to cars (such asother car adverts, adverts for car accessories, adverts for drivingexperiences or the like) owing to the inherent benefit the intendedobject will obtain by virtue of its proximity to the car advert at thefirst location. In contrast, if the intended object to be placed atthose respective locations is not closely related to cars (such asadverts for articles of clothing, adverts for household products,adverts for restaurants or the like) then the increase in the purchasevalue of those respective locations will be lower, reflecting the lowerlevel of benefit those objects would obtain from the proximity to thecar advert placed at the first location.

It will be appreciated that the present embodiment is not so limited tothis specific example, and any such method of modifying the purchasevalue of adjacent locations in accordance with the level of interestwhich has been displayed in the object mapped to the first location ofuser being target users for the object intended for placement at the oneor more respective locations by an intended purchaser can be used inaccordance with the present disclosure.

Furthermore, the purchase value of the one or more respective locationsadjacent to the first location may be modified based on the popularityof the object that has been mapped to the first location in the virtualspace, when the occupation status of the first location changes. Thepopularity of an object indicates the amount that the object isappreciated or enjoyed by a user or users. That is, if the object hashigher popularity it is an object which is greatly appreciated by a useror users. The placement of an object of high popularity in the virtualspace will increase the purchase value of those locations adjacent tothe location of that object in comparison to their initial value. Incontrast, the placement of an object of lower popularity in the virtualspace will cause a less significant increase in the purchase value ofthe locations adjacent to that object, or could even cause the purchasevalue of those locations to decrease owing to their proximity andassociation with an object of low popularity.

There are a number of ways by which the popularity of an object whichhas been placed in the virtual space can be determined. For example, itcould be that the popularity of the object is determined in accordancewith content linked to that object. Consider the case whereby the objectis an advertisement for a film (movie) and that object is linked to awebsite for reviewing films (movies). In embodiments, the popularity ofthe object could be determined based upon the number of positive reviewsthe film (movie) has received on the review website. Alternatively, theobject could be linked to a page on a user's social media profile, andthe popularity of the object could be determined based upon opinion'sthe user has expressed about the object on their profile.

Alternatively or in addition, the popularity of the object could bedetermined based upon a number of subscribers or purchasers orexpressions of interest such as ‘likes’ or ratings or users ‘following’and object or organisation on other platforms related to the objectmapped to the location in the virtual space. For example, where theobject is an advert for a product, the popularity of that product couldbe determined based upon the number of sales of that product, orrepresentative products linked to that product, on an online shoppingforum or forums. Alternatively, where the object is an advert whichrelates to a service such as a subscription based television channel,the popularity of that object could be determined in accordance with thenumber of users which have subscribed to that television channel. Thedetermination of the popularity of such an object need not be limited tosubscribers who are also users of the virtual space. Rather, the numberof subscribers for that television channel could be determined basedupon the number of subscribers to that television channel on a differentplatform.

Additional Modifications:

Embodiments of the disclosure provide a method of mapping an object to alocation in a virtual space comprising:

determining a purchase value for available locations in the virtualspace, the purchase value representing a payment required to place theobject at available locations in the virtual space, the purchase valuebeing determined according to an available location's prominence invirtual space and according with a level of popularity of one or moreobjects placed at one or more locations adjacent to the availablelocations; and

in response to receiving a payment for a location in the virtual space,mapping the object to that location in the virtual space.

In other words, the method according to embodiments of the disclosuremay comprise determining the purchase value required to place an objectat a location in the virtual space for the locations in the virtualspace which are available for the placement of the object. Certainlocations within the virtual space may always be unavailable (such asrestricted regions or the like) while other regions may be unavailableonly temporarily (if they are already occupied by another object forexample).

The purchase value may be determined based on the location's prominencein the virtual space (such as the distance from a reference location orthe like) and also based upon a level of popularity of objects inlocations adjacent to the location. That is, the popularity of theobjects in adjacent locations may be based on the level of interestdisplayed in those objects (as described above), or may be based on apopularity score provided by the user regarding the objects at theadjacent locations. For example, if the objects in the adjacentlocations have a higher level of popularity, then the purchase value forthe location in the virtual space will be increased accordingly.

Furthermore, embodiments of the disclosure provide a method of mappingan object to a location in a virtual space, the method comprising:

assigning to locations in the virtual space a prominence valuerepresenting the prominence of an object at the location when thevirtual space is viewed by a user, the prominence value being assignedaccording to a distance from each location to a reference location inthe virtual space;

determining a purchase value for the locations in the virtual spacerepresenting a payment required to place an object at respectivelocations in the virtual space, the purchase value being determined atleast according to the prominence value assigned to a respectivelocation in the virtual space; and

in response to receiving the payment for a location in the virtualspace, mapping the object to that location in the virtual space.

In other words, the purchase value for locations in the virtual spacemay be determined based upon the prominence of the location determinedby the distance of the location from the reference location alone. Thereference location may be the location which is easiest in the virtualspace for the user to view, and thus the location having the highestinherent level of prominence to the user. Alternatively, the referencelocation may relate to a location set by the user as their favouritelocation in the virtual space or the like.

The disclosure relates to an apparatus, system and computerinterpretable code instructions for performing the above. Embodimentsprovide that purchase value is related not only to its visibility invirtual space by a user for example at an entry point in the virtualspace or a natural eye level, but also according to what other objectsare positioned adjacent to an intended location.

It will be appreciated that the present disclosure is not so limited tothese above described examples, and any method of determining thepopularity of the object in accordance with content linked to thatobject can be used in accordance with the present disclosure.Furthermore, while numerous specific examples of the modification of thepurchase value of respective locations in the virtual space have beendescribed, it will be appreciated that any method of modifying thepurchase value of one or more respective locations adjacent to a firstlocation when the occupation status of the first location changes may beused in accordance with the present disclosure.

Advantageous Effects

Through the modification of purchase values of respective adjacentlocations in the virtual space following the mapping of an object to alocation within that virtual space, it is possible to restrict theopportunities of third parties to (unfairly) capitalise upon theprominence of a competitor, thus providing an increased level ofcertainty to a purchaser that a given object for which payment isreceived will achieve a certain degree of prominence and exposure to theuser.

Furthermore, by mapping an object to a respective location in thevirtual space according to a purchase value and received paymentinformation, it becomes possible to ensure that a given object for whichthe payment is received will have a certain degree of prominence andexposure to the user, even when a large number of objects are displayedin the virtual space on a screen or virtual space of limited size. Thus,it becomes easier to enable objects that are more likely to be desirableto a user to be found in a virtual environment of limited availablespace. The disclosure is not limited to these advantages; there may beothers.

Modification of Objects Mapped to a Location in a Virtual Space:

A method of mapping an object to a location in a virtual space accordingto the present embodiment may be applied to the navigation of a userthrough a large number of digital objects, such as television channels,displayed in a virtual environment. In an example, a television objectmay be mapped to predetermined location in the virtual space. Thislocation may be any location in the virtual space, and the predeterminedlocation can be assigned with user preference. For example, the user mayhave defined that a certain television channel should be located at alocation a certain distance from the central location in the virtualspace along the horizontal axis. The prominence of the locations in thevirtual space are then determined, as described with reference to FIG.12A. In this example, if it is determined that the object at thatlocation has a very low level of prominence to the user, properties ofthat object are modified in order that the user remains aware of thatobject. In this example, these properties relate to the size of theobject, and an object at a location in the virtual space with a lowlevel of prominence is thus expanded such that the attention of the useris drawn towards that object.

FIG. 23 illustrates a flow chart of modifying a property of an objectlocated in a virtual space according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Step S2302 comprises mapping an object to a predetermined location in avirtual space. Step S2304 comprises assigning each respective locationin a virtual space a prominence value representing the prominence of anobject at the location when the virtual space is viewed by a user, theprominence value being assigned according to a distance from eachlocation to a reference location in the virtual space and at least onephysiological characteristic of a user. Step S2306 comprises modifyingat least one property of the object located in the virtual space inaccordance with the prominence value assigned to the location of theobject in the virtual space.

Step S2304 is the same as step S1204 described with reference to FIG.12A above. For brevity, a repetition regarding the details of this stepwill not be included at this stage.

The method according to the present embodiment is described in moredetail below.

Mapping an Object to a Predetermined Location:

When mapping an object to a predetermined location in the virtual spaceas according to the present embodiment, the location of an object in avirtual space is dictated by location information, and that locationinformation can be set in advance. The location information could, forexample, relate to co-ordinates which define where in the virtual spacethe object is to be placed. Alternatively, any method of defining alocation of the object in the virtual space may be used. Furthermore,any number of objects may be placed in the virtual space in this manner,provided that at least one object is placed in the virtual space. Theseobjects may be placed in the virtual space at the same time or at arespective time for each object.

Furthermore, as described with reference to FIG. 11, there is noparticular restriction upon the type of digital object which may beplaced within the virtual space according to the present disclosure.

Modification of Object Properties:

Once the prominence value has been assigned to each respective locationin the virtual space as according to the present embodiment, the methodfurther comprises modifying a property of that object in accordance withthe prominence value. The manner by which the property of the object ismodified in accordance with prominence value is not particularlylimited. For example, the property of the object could be enhanced ifthe object is placed at a high prominence location, or the property ofthe object could be reduced if the object is placed at a high prominencelocation in the virtual space.

Furthermore, according to embodiments of the disclosure, the objectcould have media content associated with itself. As such modifying aproperty of the object according to the present embodiment could furthercomprises changing the media content associated with the object, ormodifying a property of the media content associated with the object.That is, if the object is in a location which has been assigned a firstprominence value then the object could have a first media contentassociated with itself, wherein if the object is located at a locationhaving a lower level of prominence, the media content could be changedto a second media content.

For example, if the object relates to a television channel, and thatobject is located in an area of low prominence, then there may be nomedia content associated with that object, or a short sample clip of acurrently playing program on that channel could be displayed. However,if the object is placed at a location of high prominence, then the mediacontent associated with that object could be changed such that a livestream of the channel is played and displayed in accordance with thatobject.

With regards to the property of the object, or the property of mediacontent associated with that object, it will be appreciated that saidproperty is not particularly restricted. For example, the property couldbe one of a visual property, audio property or animation property. Otherproperties of the object, or media content associated with the object,could be modified in accordance with the present disclosure. It willalso be understood that any combination of these properties could bemodified in accordance with the prominence of the location at which theobject is located in accordance with the present disclosure.

Consider the case where the property is a visual property. Said visualproperty could include a size, an aspect ratio, a colour, a transparencylevel, a brightness level, a shape, or a texture mapping or the like.That is, for example, if the object is located at a location within thevirtual space with a low level of prominence to the user, a visualproperty of the object, such as its aspect ratio, could be increased. Inthis manner, when the visual space is displayed, the attention of theuser could be drawn to the object, even though the object is placed in aposition of low prominence.

It may be, however, that if the object is placed at a location having alower level of prominence, a visual property of the object is decreased.That is, the aspect ratio of the object could be reduced if the objectis placed at a respective location which has been assigned a low levelof prominence. In this manner, even if a very large number of objectsare placed within the virtual space, the virtual space can be preventedfrom becoming overly cluttered. Accordingly, navigation through a largenumber of objects in a virtual space can be improved, since objectswhich are placed at less prominent locations would have a decreasedlevel of attractiveness to the user. This avoids a situation whereby theuser becomes overwhelmed with the number of objects which are availablein virtual space.

An audio property of the object, or media content associated with theobject, could include an audio volume, an audio pitch, an audiofrequency balance, or an audio speed or the like. For example,considering a case whereby the objects relate to television channelobjects, an object placed in a prominent location could have anincreased audio volume, such that the user can hear the audio associatedwith the object located in a prominent location. Alternatively or inaddition, the audio volume associated with an object in a location oflow prominence to the user could have the volume reduced or muted. Assuch, the audio associated with objects in a position of low prominence(and with which the user may have little interest) can be avoided fromoverwhelming the audio from the more well suited objects located at alocation of higher prominence.

An animation property of an object, or media content associated with theobject, could include one of a movement, a rotation, a distortion, ananimation effect or the like. For example, if the object is located at aregion having a lower level of prominence, then the object could beanimated in a manner in order to draw the user's attention to thatobject regardless of the fact that it is located in a less prominentposition. Such animation could involve a pulsation of the object, amovement of the object along a predetermined path or the like.

Advantageous Effects

According to the present embodiment, the navigation through a largevolume of digital content can be improved, since the attention of a usercan be directed towards objects even if those objects are located inregions having a low degree of prominence to the user. Thus, navigationthrough a large volume of digital content can be improved even where theavailable virtual space for display is particularly small or limitedwith regards to the volume of digital content which must be displayed.The disclosure is not limited to these advantages; there may be others.

Additional Modifications:

Embodiments of the disclosure provide a method of modifying a propertyof an object located in a virtual space, the method comprising:

mapping an object to a predetermined location in a virtual space;

assigning each respective location in the virtual space a prominencevalue representing the prominence of an object at the location when thevirtual space is viewed by a user, the prominence value being assignedaccording to a distance from each location to a reference location inthe virtual space;

modifying at least one property of the object located in the virtualspace in accordance with the prominence value assigned to the locationof the object in the virtual space.

In other words, the prominence of the location may be determined by thedistance of the location from the reference location alone. Thereference location may be the location which is easiest in the virtualspace for the user to view, and thus the location having the highestinherent level of prominence to the user. Alternatively, the referencelocation may relate to a location set by the user as their favouritelocation in the virtual space or the like.

In addition to the above described embodiments, the property of theobject could further be modified in accordance with a type of objectwhich the user has selected as an object of interest (the object beingselected as an object of interest as described with reference to FIG. 18above). That is, if for example, the user has selected a first type ofobject as an object of interest, then other objects related to that typecould have their properties modified in order to draw the user'sattention to other objects within the virtual space with which they maybe interested. The level by which the property of the related objects ismodified could vary in accordance with the prominence of the location atwhich the object is located. For example, an object located in a regionof low prominence may require a large modification of its properties inorder to inform a user of its presence, while an object located at alocation having a higher prominence level would require only a smallmodification of its property in order to inform a user of its presence.

Alternatively or in addition, the method of assigning each respectivelocation in the virtual space a prominence value could further compriseassigning the prominence value in accordance with a distance of eachlocation from an object of high priority which has been mapped to arespective location in the virtual space. In other words, in addition tothe respective distance of each location from a reference location andthe one or more physiological characteristics of the user, the methodaccording to embodiments of the disclosure may further compriseaccounting for the respective distance of an object at each locationfrom an object of high priority. That is, the prominence value assignedto each location could be reassessed once the plurality of objects havebeen mapped to their respective locations within the virtual space.

For example, considering the example in FIG. 18, the prominence value ofan object at location 1808 could be considered to be enhanced owing toits proximity to objects of high priority 1810 and 1812. Once theprominence values have been reassessed in this manner, the objects couldbe re-mapped in accordance with to the priority level associated with atleast some of the objects and the prominence value assigned to eachlocation in the virtual space further improving the ability of a user tonavigate through a large volume of digital content, since the objects ofhigher priority are mapped to locations within the virtual space havingincreased prominence to the user.

Furthermore, the property of the object could be further modified inaccordance with a purchase value. That is, if an object is located at alower degree of prominence, and payment information is receivedassociated with that object, then a property of that object could beincreased in order to draw the attention of the user to that object,even if the object remains at a location having a lower degree ofprominence. The level of modification of the property in order to drawthe attention of the user to that object could be determined inaccordance with the level of prominence of the location at which theobject is located.

Obviously, numerous modifications and variations of the presentdisclosure are possible in light of the above teachings. It is thereforeto be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, thedisclosure may be practiced otherwise than as specifically describedherein.

In so far as embodiments of the disclosure have been described as beingimplemented, at least in part, by software-controlled data processingapparatus, it will be appreciated that a non-transitory machine-readablemedium carrying such software, such as an optical disk, a magnetic disk,semiconductor memory or the like, is also considered to represent anembodiment of the present disclosure.

It will be appreciated that the above description for clarity hasdescribed embodiments with reference to different functional units,circuitry and/or processors. However, it will be apparent that anysuitable distribution of functionality between different functionalunits, circuitry and/or processors may be used without detracting fromthe embodiments.

Described embodiments may be implemented in any suitable form includinghardware, software, firmware or any combination of these. Describedembodiments may optionally be implemented at least partly as computersoftware running on one or more data processors and/or digital signalprocessors. The elements and components of any embodiment may bephysically, functionally and logically implemented in any suitable way.Indeed the functionality may be implemented in a single unit, in aplurality of units or as part of other functional units. As such, thedisclosed embodiments may be implemented in a single unit or may bephysically and functionally distributed between different units,circuitry and/or processors.

Although the present disclosure has been described in connection withsome embodiments, it is not intended to be limited to the specific formset forth herein. Additionally, although a feature may appear to bedescribed in connection with particular embodiments, one skilled in theart would recognize that various features of the described embodimentsmay be combined in any manner suitable to implement the technique.

1. A method of mapping an object to a location in a virtual space, themethod comprising: acquiring a plurality of objects which are to bemapped to respective locations in a virtual space; assigning eachrespective location in the virtual space a prominence value representingthe prominence of an object at the location when the virtual space isviewed by a user, the prominence value being assigned according to adistance of each location from a reference location in the virtual spaceand at least one physiological characteristic of a user; mapping eachobject to a respective location in the virtual space according to apriority level associated with at least some of the objects and theprominence value assigned to each respective location in the virtualspace.
 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the plurality ofobjects which are to be mapped to respective locations in the virtualspace are media objects including at least one of television channels,streaming services, games, films, photos or videos, applications whichare launchable, or menu options which are selectable by the user. 3.(canceled)
 4. The method according to claim 1, further comprisingdisplaying the virtual space on a virtual reality headset or anaugmented reality headset or wherein the respective location in thevirtual space is a respective location on a two-dimensional surfacewithin the virtual space.
 5. (canceled)
 6. The method according to claim1, wherein the priority level associated with at least some of theobjects is set in accordance with at least one of a user preference oran external preference acquired with the plurality of objects.
 7. Themethod according to claim 4, wherein the priority level is assigned tothe plurality of objects such that a subset of the plurality of objectsare mapped to respective locations in a specific area of the virtualspace.
 8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the prominence levelsare assigned such that the prominence value distribution around thereference location is non-isotropic.
 9. The method according to claim 1,wherein assigning a prominence value according to a distance of eachlocation from a reference location is based on a linear mapping betweenthe distance of each location from the reference location and theprominence value assigned to each location in the virtual space. 10.(canceled)
 11. The method according to claim 3, wherein the referencelocation is a central location in front of the user and wherein anobject at a location behind the user is the object with the lowestprominence value.
 12. The method according to claim 1, wherein thephysiological characteristic of the user includes characteristicsrelated to neck flexibility of the user or peripheral vision range ofthe user.
 13. The method according to claim 1, further comprisingperforming an initial calibration in order to determine thephysiological characteristic of the user.
 14. The method according toclaim 3, wherein an object of the plurality of objects mapped to arespective location in the virtual space is selectable as an object ofinterest.
 15. The method according to claim 11, wherein when an objectis selected as the object of interest, the method further comprisessetting the respective location of that object in the virtual space asthe reference location.
 16. The method according to claim 11, whereinwhen the object is selected as the object of interest, the methodfurther comprises re-mapping at least one of the plurality of objectssuch that the object of interest is located at the reference location.17. The method according to claim 11, wherein when the object isselected as the object of interest, the method further comprisesgenerating a second virtual space, wherein a second plurality of objectsare mapped to respective locations in the second virtual space and theobject of interest is mapped to a reference location in the secondvirtual space.
 18. The method according to claim 11, further comprisingmonitoring the gaze of the user through eye tracking and identifying anobject as the object of interest when the gaze of the user remains onthe object for a time greater than a predetermined time. 19-20.(canceled)
 21. The method according to claim 11, wherein when the objectis selected as an object of interest, the object is modified in order toprovide further information regarding the object to the user.
 22. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein the method of assigning eachrespective location in the virtual space a prominence value furthercomprises assigning the prominence value in accordance with a distanceof each location from an object of high priority which has been mappedto a respective location in the virtual space.
 23. The method accordingto claim 1, wherein mapping each object to the respective location inthe virtual space according to the priority level associated with atleast some of the objects and the prominence value assigned to eachlocation in the virtual space comprises mapping the object with thehighest priority level to the respective location with the highestprominence value.
 24. The method according to claim 1, wherein themapping of each object to the respective location in the virtual spaceaccording to the priority level associated with at least some of theobjects and the prominence value assigned to each location in thevirtual space is updated after a predetermined time or in accordancewith a user preference.
 25. The method according to claim 1, wherein theplurality of objects which are to be mapped to respective locations inthe virtual space are floor numbers or shopping categories in a virtualdepartment store and wherein the user can navigate through the virtualdepartment store by selecting an object of interest. 26.-32. (canceled)33. An apparatus for mapping an object to a location in a virtual space,the apparatus comprising circuitry configured to: acquire a plurality ofobjects which are to be mapped to respective locations in a virtualspace; assign each respective location in the virtual space a prominencevalue representing the prominence of an object at the location when thevirtual space is viewed by a user, the prominence value being assignedaccording to a distance of each location from a reference location inthe virtual space and at least one physiological characteristic of auser; map each object to a respective location in the virtual spaceaccording to a priority level associated with at least some of theobjects and the prominence value assigned to each respective location inthe virtual space.
 34. A non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumstoring instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause thecomputer to carry out a method of mapping an object to a location in avirtual space, the method comprising: acquiring a plurality of objectswhich are to be mapped to respective locations in a virtual space;assigning each respective location in the virtual space a prominencevalue representing the prominence of an object at the location when thevirtual space is viewed by a user, the prominence value being assignedaccording to a distance of each location from a reference location inthe virtual space and at least one physiological characteristic of auser; mapping each object to a respective location in the virtual spaceaccording to a priority level associated with at least some of theobjects and the prominence value assigned to each respective location inthe virtual space. 35-36. (canceled)